The Scarlet Swans
by Medea Jade
Summary: The Face of Boe once told the Doctor he was not alone. Everyone thought he meant the Master but could they be wrong? Could there be another? Not a love story despite the first chapter. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

My name is Honey. Seriously, that's my name. I'm not even going to bother with my last name. It's silly and you'll laugh. My mum and dad couldn't decide on a name for me and so they started calling me sweetheart, peanut, all those little pet names. Honey just stuck. I'm sure glad it wasn't Munchkin.

Anyway, the name just stuck and over the last 24 years of my life my mum's found all kinds of ways to justify it. When I was a baby it was because while she was pregnant she craved honey on everything. When I was older it was because I had dark golden hair like a honeybees. Then my hair got darker, like my dad's, and she said it was because she thought it would get me a lot of attention with the boys. They could have a pet name for me without being accused of sexual harassment.

And now she's given up with the excuses. She doesn't even like honey, is scared of bees and I'm single and very much not looking. Mum's been after me for years to settle down with a nice bloke somewhere. But that will never happen because you see… I'm already in love with someone. I've never even met him but I know he's real. Every night I watch him as he saves the world and helps the helpless. I watched him change and feel his loss. He doesn't even know I exist. His name is the Doctor and I love him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Everything you need is in place on the habitat. It was not easy with the Americans watching our every move but it's there."

This was Natalie's first mission with her new employers. Technically she didn't even work for them. She was really more of a free lancer, a mercenary for hire, except that she only worked for them. She was the face that no one connected with their organization, the mole. Natalie didn't know how many others like her there might be but she liked to think of herself as their secret weapon.

"Now remember Natalie, whatever is down there, whatever is causing this, you are not to go near it. Don't try to start it, stop it, open it, close it, contact it, kill it, bring it back to life, anything. This is a recon mission only. It could be nothing but it could also be very dangerous. Do you understand?"

Sometimes he seemed so stern and commanding but Natalie knew that he was only trying to impress upon her the gravity of the situation. His seriousness made her nervous but she knew he liked her and would never put her into a situation she couldn't handle. Natalie nodded gravely and said,

"Don't worry about me. I've been down there a thousand times and I've never

had a problem." She realised she seemed somewhat carefree about the task and continued,

"But, I know this time is different. I will proceed with extra caution."

Her boss sat back in his chair with obvious relief. For several moments he said nothing and as she usually did when alone with him, Natalie started to get nervous. Not because he creeped her out. Just the opposite in fact. He was irresistible and she had a heard time looking him in the eye. She felt like he could sense her lusty thoughts.

He broke the tension by abruptly flashing her that gorgeous grin of his.

"Last thing, Natalie. Once you're down you'll have no contact with us. If you find anything that needs to be dealt with immediately, or even anything that you think the rest shouldn't see, then you know what to do. Everyone comes up. Other than that, little lady, good luck and bonne voyage."

They stood and Natalie walked him to the front. Opening the door to a cold and blustery day Natalie held out a hand to her boss,

"I want to thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Harkness. I never dreamed I'd be doing anything this…. well, quite this James Bond."

He took her hand in his and kissed it. Natalie felt her legs go weak.

"Call me Jack and Torchwood thanks you, Miss Bond." Letting go of her hand he winked at her.

"Until next time, beautiful."

And with that he was gone. Away down the street with that great, blue coat billowing around him. Natalie watched him until he disappeared around the corner. With a shiver she closed the door and wandered back into the kitchen. She sat down and stared at the small carry-on bag sitting on the counter. Jack had gone through it with her, advising her what to bring and what to leave behind. He wasn't talking any risks at having her or her involvement with Torchwood exposed.

Natalie was quite a bit more nervous than she had let on. It was true that she had been down many times before. This is what she did for a living after all. But this trip was entirely different. She'd be living down there for who knows how long and doing secret research the whole time.

A clock chimed in the next room.

"Time to get going."

Natalie gathered her belongings together, turned off everything in her small flat, took one last look around and headed out into the rain and cold wondering when she would be warm again.


	3. Chapter 3

The TARDIS was still in pieces. Not to the naked eye but the Doctor could sense it. Her insides were all jumbled up after a trip to the end of the Universe, being high jacked and cannibalized, hit by the Titanic and so on and so forth. She's been through worse he supposed but this time he was having one hell of a time putting her back together even somewhat properly.

Alone again and losing himself inside his own world of time machine parts and bad 80's music the Doctor was head first in a trap door under the centre console when something strange happened.

He heard voices.

"That's not right."

Pulling himself out of the cubby-hole filled with cables and glowing bits of crystal he aimed his sonic screwdriver at the console and the music stopped. The voices didn't. He couldn't make out what they were saying. They were all somewhat muffled, liked voices heard from a few rooms over.

"That's very strange. Must be picking up signals. I'll put a stop to that."

He flicked a couple of switches and spun a little dial and stood back. The voices stopped and the Doctor headed back to his work with a satisfied smile on his face. Then they started again. This time louder.

"Oh, come on old girl. I'm trying to patch you up and I've promised to treat you better in the future… and the past. Have we snagged a mobile satellite or do you really just want to bother me today?"

As if to answer the TARDIS gave a shake and let out a small whine.

"Ok so no satellite then."

Frowning the Doctor wandered around the inside of his ship, listening for the source of the voices. He crawled through the cobwebbed basement and even climbed up to attic and had a peak out the skylight but the sounds never changed. He sat down at the top of the stairs that spiralled through the centre of the TARDIS.

"Well, this is just weird. And really rather annoying. I mean could you at least turn up the volume so I can follow the conversation?"

Right on cue the TARDIS gave another shake, nearly sending the Doctor tumbling down the stairs.

"What is going _on_ in here?"

Then the voices got louder. Not much louder but enough that he could hear what they were saying and it was nothing important.

"_Pick up the kids tonight…"_

"_Are we going to the movies…"_

"_I really hate it when you do that…"_

It was all just nonsense. As if he was hearing little bits of peoples mobile conversations. Frowning, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning for the source of the signal.

"Probably should have tried this in the first place but I like to do things the human way sometimes." He explained to the TARDIS.

He was wandering around the bottom floor when something made him stop dead. He recognised a voice and it was one that he never should have heard ever again. His hearts nearly stopped and he could not stop the tear that rolled gently down his cheek to settle, salty and warm at the corner of his mouth. He closed his eyes and focused completely on the voice, letting it soak into every fibre of his being. All the memories that he had locked away, deep inside his mind came flooding back, overwhelming him and he sank to his knees.

The voice disappeared as quickly as the others had, he wasn't even sure what had been said. It didn't really matter. The Doctor snapped his eyes open and wipped the stray tear from his face.

"But that's impossible. Completely impossible."


	4. Chapter 4

Honey sat back at her computer. Her story was started. It felt good to finally be writing it down but at the same time she felt more lost. Getting it straight in her own mind was supposed to help her explain it to someone else. Someone who could explain to her what was going on with her dreams. She'd always had wild dreams. Vivid and realistic and Honey had always been able to create some wonderful stories from them.

A slight believer in the occult, Honey always thought that she was favoured by a Muse. The dreams had always been just ideas though. Honey had always had to ultimately create the story herself. But now it was different. Her dreams were stories in and of themselves. They had a beginning, a middle and an end and always they were filled with the Doctor.

But not just the Doctor. There were other people too. Rose, Captain Jack, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Martha and so many others. For nearly 4 years now Honey had watched them. When Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS Honey had felt the Doctor absorb that energy from her. It gave her a fever that lasted for 3 days. When Rose crossed the void for the last time Honey had nearly died of a heart attack, something that no medical professional had been able to explain. And later, when the Doctor had been infected by a sun, Honey had sleepwalked her way around her flat and destroyed half her belongings. The rage had been so strong she could feel the echo of it even now.

Somehow, these dreams of someone that didn't even exist were effecting every aspect of Honey's life. It was almost killing her and yet she couldn't help but love the Doctor. None of it was his fault. He didn't know what his emotions were doing to her but if he did Honey knew that he would find someway to stop it.

Today was the first time that Honey had attempted to put any of it down in words. She'd tried to explain it all to her best friend, Daniela, but the other woman simply had not understood. No one did. Not even the therapist that her mother had insisted that she see after the heart attack. They'd put her on some medication that was supposed to be an anti-psychotic. However, since Honey wasn't psychotic the drug did nothing except give her a headache and make her tired.

A week earlier Honey had gone to a seminar about dreams and their effect on sleep disorders and general health. Afterwards she had spoken to the man teaching the class and he had asked her to try writing down some of her night time adventures. He didn't laugh at her, he didn't ask her what the dreams were about or what her daily habits were, whether she took drugs or not. She was supposed to meet up with him later that day but Honey was nervous. She been staring at her computer screen for nearly an hour and had only established two facts: one being that she hated her name and the other that she was in love with a figment of her imagination.

"Oh this is so useless!"

Honey slid the keypad away from her and started pacing around the room.

"How can I put any of this into words. They aren't regular dreams. They aren't just a bizarre series of random events in my head. They are whole stories overflowing with sights and scent and emotions!"

There was a bang from the floor above and Honey realized that she'd been yelling. Honey did everything outloud. Usually it was just quiet whispering and chatting to herself but when something really frustrated her she tended to get louder.

Throwing herself down on the couch Honey started thinking up excuses as to why she had written nothing down for the lecturer. He had been very kind and she felt as if she would be letting him down when she showed up to their meeting with nothing more than the first time they'd met.

She reached for the coffee table and picked up his card. Hayden Delano. Everytime she looked at his card a memory floated to the surface and then sank again before she could recall it. Not because of his name but because of the symbol on the card. The same symbol that had been on the flyer about his senimar at the college. It was a hexagon with 5 smaller hexagons in a line inside it. At the bottom of the line of little hexagons was a larger circle. The circle had pieces missing though. Smaller circles removed from spots around the edges. Insides the broken circle were more circles shaped the same way. If you stared at the symbol long enough it seemed to shift and rotate, revealing more cicles within circles, getting smaller and smaller until they stretcher away into nothing.

Honey stared at the card a moment long and then tossed it carelessly away. It was hard to look at, hurt the eyes. Some kind of optical illusion or hologram. Maybe she'd ask Hayden how he'd come up with it. That would be a good way to avoid the real topic.

Glancing at her mobile Honey realized it was time to head to the coffee house where she and Hayden were to meet. Giving her computer an annoyed flip of the bird she pulled her coat on and headed out the door.

"He'll just have to heard it instead of read it. Writing it will belittle it anyway."


	5. Chapter 5

Back at Torchwood Headquaters Captain Jack Harkness called his whole team into the meeting room. As they filed in and took their seats Jack called up several images relating to the case on the large screen behind him. Ianto came in last carrying a tray of hot coffees for everyone.

"So, another secret case, Jack?" Owen Harper, the teams medical specialist was the least trusting of the Captain and always suspicious of cases that were brought up by him. Gwen kicked him under the table and shot him a look. Jack gave him a look as well and Owen settled back in his chair, coffee in hand.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Force of habit."

"Ok guys, we've got a doozie here. Yes this has been a secret case but once I finish you will understand why. Have a look at the screen behind me."

The lights dimmed and everyone leaned forward to study to image on the wall. It was a map of the world with Southern England at its centre. There was nothing else on the map. Jack tapped a button on his computer and a red line blazed across the map starting from south Wales.

"That's the rift." Declared Toshiko Sato, Torchwood's computer and mathematical genius. "But we closed it. You closed it. It's gone."

Everyone could hear the fear in her voice and they all understood it. The rift had contained a horror that had very nearly ended life as they knew it. Before their fear could spread farther Jack tapped another key.

"Just keep watching the rift."

They kept their eyes on the screen and the rift suddenly grew into two lines, then three, and then spread out across the world. Into Asia, across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada and as far south as Argentina.

"So, this is a time lapse of the rift? Why are we watching this?" Tosh questioned.

Jack didn't answer. The fault lines continued to spread, moving across the whole globe until finally it expanded at its epicentre, right on the dot that was Cardiff, becoming a pulsing red glow.Everyone knew that was the moment when Abaddon had emerged. The Beast that threatened to consume mankind. The thing that Jack had stopped.

The epicentre suddenly began to throb blue and then everything was gone. All the red lines vanished in a flash and the rift was no more. For a moment there was nothing and then something changed.

"There!" Cried Jack, pointing at the screen. "Do you see it?"

A small red dot had appeared on the map, in the ocean, just south of Cardiff.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, Tosh, but I mean to find out."

"But, Jack, the rift can't have reopened can it?" Gwen's expecience with Abaddon had perhaps been the worst of them all. The last thing she wanted was to see the rift reappear.

"I don't think it is the rift. This is something else. Watch again. Keep your eyes on that spot."

Jack ran the time lapse again and enlarged Southern England on the map. At first the dot wasn't there. Then there was a shift in the glowing red line. It gave a small twitch and the dot appeared. Very small, almost unnoticeable.

"Now I'll speed it up a bit."

They all watched in awe as the red on the map jumped and flexed. Soon they were back to the map with only the glowing red dot off the coast of Wales.

Jack shut the screen off and the lights came back up. Everyone sat silently for a moment and then on cue leaped for the files spread out in the centre of the table. The Captain sat watched as his team rifled through the papers and photos, talking excitedly.

"What is this? It's grown with the rift and was effected by it's closing but has remained steady since then." Tosh stared wide eyed at the graph before her. "I've picked up some strange weather patterns in that area but never this anomaly."

"Hopefully we'll know very soon what's causing it. I've sent someone down to investigate and…"

There was an uproar as Jack's team realized that it hadn't been one of them sent to investigate. Who knew more about the rift than them?

"Before you get all tied in knots, children, let me finish. The American government has found someway of locating anomalies like this one and specifically asked to head the mission and that Torchwood not be involved."

"But that's ridiculous!" Cried Gwen. "No one knows more about this sort of thing than us."

"They're a stubborn people those Americans and when they want something they are good at getting it. Now, the Prime Minister was able to convince him to allow a government agent to go to the sea floor with them. She is a specialist and is secretly working for me. The Americans don't like it but she has been given the authority to end the mission should they find anything… well, our kind of thing. She left this morning. She's incommunicado for now but she'll be back above in a week. Then we'll know more."

Jack walked around the table and headed for the door. Before he left he turned to them and grinned.

"But if any of you would like to follow me I do know why we didn't spot the dot until now."


	6. Chapter 6

Leaning back into the taxi Natalie handed the driver a ten pound note and thanked him. As he drove away she pulled her long coat tight around her body in an attempt to shut out the biting wind and headed for the small building at the end of the peir. Nobody had been there to greet her. She knew that she was not welcome on this mission.

As she approached the door a man in a suit rushed to open it for her.

"Thank you." Natalie said quietly giving the man a small smile. He was a young man with attractive features but she wasn't sure who he was and didn't want to risk another American style argument.

He extended a hand to her and she took it. His shake was firm and he smile warm. She liked him almost immediately.

"Good morning, Ms. Brown." A Welsh accent. Natalie definitely liked him now. "Welcome to Cardiff's Sea Deep station. I'm Glyn Bartlett. I work for her Majesty's government. It's a pleasure to meet you. If you'll follow me I'll show where you can stow your gear and get ready for the briefing."

Natalie allowed him to take her bag and coat and followed through the atrium to an elevator at the back.

_Her Majesty's Government? _She thought. _This guy must work for MI5 or 6 or whatever. This gets more Bondish every minute._

Once in the elevator Glyn continued to talk.

"Now, Natalie, may I call you Natalie?" She nodded. "Well, Natalie, I am your contact here for all things. Any thing you need you come to me. Big or little, whatever it is, a piece of driftwood strikes the habitat perhaps… you come to me."

Driftwood! That was the codeword the Captain had told her of. This man was her Torchwood contact. Natalie felt better knowing that Torchwood would be watching over her after all.

They left the elevator and stepped into a long hallway. As they walked along at a brisk pace the lights turned on as they approached and switched off as they passed. Glyn pointed to several doors telling her about pumping stations, control rooms and the like. Finally he stopped at a large blue door and turned to look at her.

"Are you ready, Natalie?"

"I've done this before, Mr. Bartlett. I'm a marine biologist. I'm more at home in the water than on dry land. I've just never gone down from this facility."

He smiled at her. The kind of smiled you use when you know something the others don't.

"This is something new. You've never seen this before."


	7. Chapter 7

As suddenly as they had started the voices stopped. The TARDIS was silent as the Doctor stood there staring. The last voice he had heard had been Rose. Rose Tyler. His Rose. His best friend and the woman he loved. One of a list of so many that he knew he would never see or hear again.

"Right!"

He sprung into action, running about the console, hands flying over the controls, sonic screwdriver blazing. Using every test he could think of he set to analyzing the last 20 minutes inside the TARDIS.

An hour later he sat on the taped up old bench beside the console with his glasses on, hair scruffy and going in every direction, with a keypad in his lap. The computer screen flashed digits and symbols readable on by Time Lord eyes. His tests had turned up nothing and the Doctor was stumped.

"Well, this is just weird. What have you gotten us into my ladyship?"

The TARDIS gave no reply.

Glad he had thought to hit record before going on the first hunt, the Doctor again played back the voices. He'd listened to them a thousand times already and still all he heard was Rose. This time he stopped the recording before her voice sounded. And then he heard it.

He played it a second time, again stopping before Rose. He knew the other voices. They were all people that the Doctor had been in contact with before. That was Elton. And there was good old Sally Sparrow. Even Adam, that stupid git that Rose had brought along to Satellite 5, had a turn.

"No. NO. It couldn't be that simple! Could it?"

The Doctor's finger flew across the keypad, eyes flicking back and forth with the images on the screen.

"Well, now _that's_ not impossible. Just weird, that is."

The Doctor wandered around to the other side of the consol and started putting all of his tools and spare parts away. A mask of concentration hid his true emotions as he focused on this menial task.

When there was nothing left to put away he stood up, straightened his tie, pulled his blue suit jacket back on and walked back around the console.

"There's only one other person I know in this solar system that can manipulate psychic energy like that. Looks like I'll have to go pay him a visit. Do some more baby sitting. Always in trouble, my friend Jack is."

The pillar at the centre of the TARDIS began to glow pale blue and the pistons lifted and fell. The engines whirred and wheezed and the Doctor felt a slight jolt and pull as his ship tumbled into a wormhole. He kept his footing through the bumpy ride and strolled towards the door as the engines powered down. He pulled his long, brown coat from the twisty pillar by the exit and stepped out into the Cardiff night.

It was raining, surprise surprise, and there were few people about. The TARDIS had landed in an alley behind the Millennium Arts Centre and the Doctor wished he had just landed inside Torchwood's base of operations. It would have been much more warm and dry. As it was, he reached back inside the door and pulled out a bright yellow umbrella and opened it over his head.

The Doctor had never been to Jack's secret little base and wasn't entirely sure where the entrance was. Jack's 'Doctor Detector' was gone. The Master had seen to that and it was probably for the best. He didn't like it when people could see him coming.

He also didn't like it when _he_ couldn't see them coming and was highly annoyed when a teenager on a cellular pushed past him sending him into a nearly ankle deep puddle. Cold, icky water seeped through the red canvas of his trainers and sent a chill up his spine.

"Oy!" He called after the kid who completely ignored him and kept yapping into his mobile. Revenge wasn't his thing but as luck would have it the Doctor just happened to be travelling in the same direction as the boy.

At the end of the alley, out on the street, the boy was just getting into a beat-up little car with Jubilee Pizza stencilled on the side. The last thing the Doctor heard before the door closed was,

"I've got one last delivery to Torchwood and then I'll be back for the next load."

So it was a disgruntled pizza boy then. The Doctor could almost forgive him. No one actually liked delivering food. More interesting though was that he was delivering to Torchwood.

"Who orders food under the name of their allpowerfullsupersecretalienhuntingorganization?" He loved to wrap his tongue around long winded, run on sentences.

He took off down the street after the car.


	8. Chapter 8

Honey sat in a back corner of The Daily Perk, a coffee shop around the corner from her flat. The sun was streaming in the bright windows behind her large padded chair and the air was warm. All together she was getting rather drowsy. She tried to keep her eyes on the pages of her book but they kept drifting shut. At last her body took over and her mind was forced to give into the urge. In perfect comfort and warmth Honey fell into a deep sleep.

When she awoke Honey was somewhere else. Rain was pouring down on her and it was dark. She was soaked to the skin and there was a briny smell in the air even through the torrents. She stood up from the bench she had been lying on. Why had she been lying on a bench? There were only a few lamps lighting the area. Looking around Honey could see that she was in a large, paved, open space. A small distance away there was a tower. It stood alone in the centre of the open area and there was water running down the sides. Was it a fountain or was it just rain? To her right was a large building with a bronze front covered in writing. From her angle the only world that Honey could make out was Horizons.

She turned in a slow circle trying to get her bearings but it was to no avail. She had absolutely no idea where she was. Then she saw him. Walking away from her towards the tower. Bright yellow umbrella bobbing up and down in the rain, long coat kicking out behind him and those red Converse All Stars. No one but the Doctor would dress like that in pouring rain. No one else would be heading for a fountain in a torrential downpour.

Honey ran. As hard as she could she ran towards him.

"Doctor! Wait for me!"

He turned and looked around but didn't notice her. She was so close! Why couldn't he see her? She called and called until she was so close she could almost touch him and then she was gone.

"Honey?"

Some one was poking her shoulder. She opened her eyes. She was back in The Daily Perk. No rain, no night, just bright, sunny skies. Rubbing her eyes, Honey sat up and looked at the man sitting across from her.

"Oh, hi Professor Delano. Sorry. I can't believe I passed out like that."

The older man shook his head and smiled at her.

"Not to worry. I'm a sleep specialist. It would be in bad form for me to chastise people for it. And please, call me Hayden."

The pair made small talk for a little while. Hayden just sat back and listened mostly. It was plain to see that Honey was nervous and uncomfortable. When the casual talk ran out Hayden made the first move.

"Now, Honey, I think it's time we discussed why we are truly here. Why don't you tell me something about these dreams you've been having."

Honey couldn't help but laugh.

"So I guess you've realized then that I didn't write anything down?"

"When I saw nothing but your book and wallet on the table I figured I wouldn't be doing much reading which is actually a good thing because I seem to have forgotten my glasses."

Honey laughed a little and Hayden could see she was easing up. He stayed silent and soon she started talking. He listened raptly while she spoke ofher past dreaming habits and how they had changed in recent years. She still had yet to give him an idea of what these new dreams were about and he was intrigued.

"So, these dreams are obviously affecting your health which is not uncommon though the extent to which you're feeling them is very strange. Tell me, is there any consistent pattern to these dreams. Reoccurring people, places, things, names… anything."

Honey hesitated. This is where it always got hard. Where people stopped believing her. But this man seemed genuine. Just the look of him made her feel like she could trust him. He almost looked like Donald Sutherland. Strange how the mind comes up with thoughts like that when faced with difficult realities. Taking a deep breath, Honey began her story. Except for the most recent dream. She wanted time to think about that one first. Never before had she actually been in the dream herself. She'd always been merely a bystander.

"Strange. Very strange indeed. This Doctor person, you speak of him as if you know him very well. Do you every find yourself as him in any of these dreams."

Honey had to think for a moment.

"No, not as such. I'm always watching events but often I can feel what he feels. The night of the heart attack was when he lost someone he loved. I had never felt such agony before. But most times I wake from these dreams feeling happy but at the same time very lonely. Like I'm the one that's all alone, not him."

By this time the sun was very low in the sky. Honey glanced at the clock on the wall. Nearly 6:30. Hayden was tapping his pen on his note book, deep in thought. Honey cleared her throat and his head snapped up.

"Honey, I would like you to come in to my facility. If you're willing we will monitor your sleep for several nights. Perhaps try to catch one of these dreams. Monitor your brain functions and such."

"If you think it will help then I am certainly willing. But is there nothing that you can tell me right now?"

Standing and gathering up his belongs Hayden sighed.

"You're case presents an almost unheard of level of REM activity. Normally what you're experiencing is something that would only be seen in people claiming to be prophetic or people with chemical imbalances. Since you are clearly neither I am, at the moment, at a loss. For the time being I can only recommend that you attempt to wake yourself up from these dreams before they cause you farther harm."

Honey nodded but said nothing. She was disappointed but at least he had not laughed at her.

"Honey, dreams are a strange territory. One of the last remaining new frontiers for mankind today. There are no clear answers and no definite interpretations. But rest assured that I will do everything I can to aid you. Be well and thank you for sharing this with me. It took courage I'm sure."

Thanking Hayden, Honey pulled her coat back on for the walk home. It was damp.


	9. Chapter 9

"But that's impossible!"

"You know, Tosh that is one phrase that I really hate. In my experience just about anything is possible and the more you try to deny it the more it becomes possible."

Jack was showing the team a file on his personal computer. So far only Tosh had been able to work out what exactly they were looking at.

"So, don't keep us hanging here. What is it Jack?" Gwen Cooper was the least experienced of the Torchwood team. She brought people skills not scientific prowess.

"It's a perception filter." Jack said.

"What like the lift? Other people have those sorts of things?"

"Yes, Gwen but not too many. In fact I can think of only two, maybe three others but what any of them would be doing at the bottom of the ocean I can't imagine."

Owen spoke up.

"This means that whatever's down there is an object then, something tangible, not like the rift. A perception filter only works on things that are solidly in existence."

"Exactly. But this means that whatever I've sent Natalie after has grown beyond the means of its filter."

"And you knew this before you sent her down there? Was there no way to stop this mission from happening and just get down there ourselves?"

Gwen was always the first to protest when Jack did anything that endangered human life. Which he did fairly often.

"Of course I knew about this. I ran a few tests of my own before anyone else discovered the anomaly. Whatever it is it's not waking up easily. If what I did didn't start anything then a few civilians isn't going to change that."

The rest of the team stared at Jack.

"What!?"

Owen and Gwen walked away leaving only Ianto and Tosh. They did not look pleased either.

"Ok, so can one of you translate moody human?"

The two glanced at each other and Ianto spoke.

"Jack, you're careless. Yes, you almost always have the answers about alien this and that but why does that always come first?"

The Captain ran his hands down his face and sighed.

"You're right, Ianto. Sometimes I am careless. But this time… the time you're wrong. I've done the best I can. I have huge influence over the British government but none over the Americans. Unfortunately the object is 10 meters outside British waters. It's international waters and the best I could do was get Natalie in there."

"Who is this Natalie person anyway?" Tosh asked.

"She's a very clever member of the marine community. She's got thousands of hours of underwater time and knows her plants and animals better than anyone else I've ever met. I met her at a bar actually."

Tosh and Ianto looked incredulous. Captain Jack Harkness didn't go to bars.

"Before you say it, yes I was at a bar. I don't go often but sometimes I just can't stay in here. We chatted one evening and I looked her up when I got back. She's got an amazing file and will be better suited for the environment than any of us."

Jack was right they realized. All things considered there was not much else that he could have done. Especially if the Americans were boycotting Torchwood.

"I'm sorry Jack." Gwen's voice came from the office door. She walked in and sat down across from her boss. "I should have heard you through."

"Don't worry about it, Gwen."

There was an uncomfortable silence and then Ianto cleared his throat.

"If you don't need me for anything I'm going to head home."

Jack nodded and everyone filed out of his office leaving him sitting there staring at the small, red, blinking dot on his computer screen. He liked Natalie. She was a sweet girl and he was worried about her. It really could be anything down there.


	10. Chapter 10

_April 8__th__ 2008_

_You know those moments when you see or hear something that is just so unbelievable that your brain wants to explode? Like when someone tells you that there is a giant space ship over London and 1/3 of the population is standing on rooftops getting ready to jump. Yeah, exactly like that. Well, I had one of those moments today. I'm down in the habitat now. I don't even know how to tell you how I get here. The technology was unlike anything I have ever seen. It was a submarine yes but not a bulky depth cruiser like the ones I'm used to. This one was sleek and streamlined. Glyn was right. _

_It's a secret of the US Navy. For years now they've been able to go down deeper and for longer than anyone else on the planet. But it's not just that. I've know for years that we're close to achieving that anyway. I'm convinced that whatever this craft was it was not built by humans. For starters the seats were wrong. Just a little bit too small for an average sized person. Ok so possibly it was designed by the Chinese. They do tend to be smaller. But what about this? The atmosphere was much higher in argon and nitrogen than it should have been. Our pilot claimed that there was something wrong with the mixers but every light on that board read green. Either of these things could be true but this will make you think. There was not a single word in any language anywhere on that ship. In fact the only thing that I could find resembling a language was a series a swirls above the side hatch. Oh, that reminds me! No submarine I've heard of has a hatch on the side. That's just silly._

Natalie closed her journal. Jack had told her not to bring it. There was sure to be a spy or two in the habitat but she promised not to mention Torchwood or anything about her task. Anyone who read that would just think she was crazy. She was alright with that.

Her briefing had been short. The Americans were still pretending to be there to study a series of caves containing rare and new species of undersea life. How stupid did they think she was? How stupid did they think the British government was?

The habitat was like so many that she'd been in before. A series of pods and tunnels anchored to the seas bed. Everyone thought that such thing were the stuff of movies but they did exist. The pressure was indeed immense but no more than the space shuttle endured. In fact here it was significantly less. They we're just on the edge of the shelf that England and Ireland sat on. Much farther from Cardiff than she had been told they were going.

Natalie was sitting her small berth when there was a tap at the thin metal door. Opening it she found the only other female crew member, Jessie Holmes.

"Sorry to get you up, Natalie but we've got work to do."

"Seriously? But it's nearly 9 o'clock at night."

"I know darlin' but we're still on California time. That's a seven hour time difference. But don't worry it's nothing heavy duty, just taking readings and stuff."

Natalie nodded and picked up a coat to follow Jessie. It was cold down here. Colder than people expected it to be. Generally only the individual berths, main office and mess hall were heated to a decent temperature.

The lab was housed in the upper half of one of the larger pods. It was well lit and had warmed up nicely with all 6 crew members inside. Each person had their own station and was working quietly taking measurements of temperature, current direction and strength, bacteria content, the usual stuff. Two hours had gone by and Natalie could barely keep her eyes open. The man sitting across from her laughed as she tried to stifle yet another jaw breaking yawn.

"If you really are that tired you should just get to sleep. We can take these readings with out you. Don't worry."

Natalie clicked her laptop shut and stood, stretching, spine and arms cracking.

"Thank you so much for finally saying that. I'm sort of the odd one out here and didn't want to separate myself any farther by falling apart on the first night. I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names, who are you again?"

The man stood up and extended a hand.

"We didn't meet at the briefing. I was taking care of some other ahh… duties. I'm Captain Oliver Pennington. I'm in charge of the mini-sub down here. Any voyages out you take will be with me."

"Glad to meet you, Captain." Natalie said with a smile. She wouldn't mind taking trips in a small, confined space with this man. He was a good looking bloke.

"If you're not too tired, Natalie go up to the observation room above the mess hall in pod 2. I'm going to take some readings of the light reactive plankton and will be switching on the flood lights. It's a pretty amazing view."

"I'll do that, Captain. Sounds interesting. Goodnight."

Natalie made her way down the narrow staircase along the wall of the round pod. She was exhausted but she really did want to see the sea bed here. The edge of the shelf was an area she had not seen too many times. She stopped to make herself a cup of tea and arrived at the obs deck just as Captain Pennington turned on the lights.

The water lit up like a starry night. Something must have stirred up the silt along the bottom. A whale or a rogue current perhaps. Tiny pieces of reflective mica and silica drifted and eddied about the outcroppings and rock pillars. There would be no readings taken tonight. The plankton would have drifted towards the top and out of the maelstrom. Swimming through that would be like flying through and asteroid field.

A voice sounded above her and Natalie looked around for the source.

"Sorry, nothing out there tonight." It was the Captain on the intercom. "I wont be able to take any readings but if you'd like I'll leave the lights on a few more minutes for you."

"That would be lovely. Thank you."

The intercom went quiet and Natalie switched off the lights on the deck. The shimmering bits of silt and debris were beginning to settle. Every now and then a fish would streak by the heavy glass window. A huge shark glided silently above and Natalie stared at it in wonder. Sharks were amazing prehistoric creatures and to observe one like this was truly a wonderful experience.

Natalie watched as it swam away towards an out cropping where it circled for a moment before coming back towards her a little lower in the water. It sailed smoothly over a large round boulder and was gone. Natalie pressed her face against the glass and looked down for the shark. Then it appeared again on the other side of the bolder still swimming towards her.

She must really be getting tired. Natalie shook here head, rubbed her eyes and headed back for her berth and bed. As she left the outside floods switched off. Natalie didn't notice a golden light appear from an almost invisible crack in the side of the boulder.


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor tore around the corner after the car, yellow umbrella trailing inside-out behind him. The kid and his car were just disappearing around the next corner. The Doctor leapt over a bench and headed for another alley across the street hoping to cut the boy off. He was just entering the lane when his sonic screwdriver started to vibrate. The Doctor stopped dead and pulled out the long, silver tool and stared into the blinking blue light at the end. It emitted a series of low frequency notes and blinked rapidly in a way that only the Doctor could understand.

"Good show my little friend. Glad I finally trained you to do that."

He pointed the device straight ahead and turned in a slow circle. When he was pointed almost straight back to the TARDIS the light blinked furiously and the Doctor grinned.

"Someone's activated a perception filter. And that could only be one person." He lowered the screwdriver and scrunched up his face. "Unless Martha's here… naw."

The sonic screwdriver came back up and the Doctor was off like a shot towards the source of the disturbance. He passed the TARDIS and gave it a loving pat as he dashed by. Coming out the other end of the alley he found himself in the open area in front of the Millennium Arts Centre.

"Ahh, this would make sense. This is where he latched on last time."

As he stepped out he saw the pizza delivery boy drive round the corner and stop in front of a dingy looking shop.

"Excellent timing."

The Doctor twirled the umbrella, popped it back into shape and swaggered out into the forum. About half way across he heard a voice. Somebody, a woman, was calling him. He turned sharply and stared back across the space. No one was there. Not a soul. He heard the voice again only this time more softly, farther away. Suddenly a blast of wind hit him in the face bringing a bitterly cold splash of water with it.

Reaching up, the Doctor wiped his dripping face and pulled out his screwdriver again. It was no longer picking up the signal of the perception filter. Instead it was registering more psychic energy. Lots more but it was fading fast. Before he could get a lock on it it was gone.

"This just keeps getting weirder."

The pizza boy was gone by the time he arrived at the shop. The lights were dimmed inside but the door was unlocked. Inside was a mishmash of assorted maps, postcards and other junky little souvenirs. The walls were made of old dark planks and the computer on the desk was outdated. The clock on the wall didn't even work.

"Hello." He called. There was no answer.

He peaked into the only other room in the place, behind a beaded curtain. Nothing but a small bar fridge, a cluttered desk and stack of filing cabinets. So who had the pizza gone to? There must be a secret door around here somewhere.

The Doctor was just about to start looking when there was a noise behind him. He nipped back through the curtain to find a tall, sharp looking young man standing staring at him.

"Can I help you with something?"

The Doctor opened his mouth then closed it quickly. Should he ask about Jack or about Torchwood? He decided against both.

"I was hoping you might share your pizza. I've been walking all day in this rain and am famished."

The bizarre question didn't faze the man at all.

"I haven't got any pizza. Sorry."

"Sure you do. I just saw the boy stop outside. Nasty little bugger he was. Pushed me in a puddle."

The man just stared at him.

"Oh, alright. Just thought I'd ask. No pizza then. I'm really looking for Torchwood. Have I found it?"

"Torchwood? Can't say I've heard of it."

The man walked round behind the counter and sat down at the computer. The Doctor's quick eyes saw his thumb brush against the small red button under the counter ledge.

"No? Well, how about a one Captain Jack Harkness? Heard of him?"

Still no reaction. This man was cool as a cucumber.

"Don't know any Jacks. Are you sure you have the proper address?"

"Positive. I followed my nose. It's quite large you see. Leads me all over the place."

The man just stared at him and then the room went dark.

"I've triggered the alarm. Someone will be up momentarily to deal with you."

"Splendid! So Torchwood's underground now is it? Quite a switch from Canary Wharf. Heads in clouds that lot."

The man stayed silent and the Doctor wasn't even sure if he was still there. Suddenly the room was flooded with light, meant to blind him the Doctor knew, but his alien eyes adjusted quickly and he found himself facing none other than Jack Harkness who happened to be pointing a gun straight at his face.

"Jack Jackidy Jackaroo! Still playing with guns I see. Glad to see me?"

Jack just stood there, mouth agape, staring at the Doctor's lopsided, goofy grin. He dropped the gun and pulled the Doctor into a tight hug. When Jack finally let him go the rest of the team had arrived in the tunnel behind the wall. Jack turned to them with a smile so big plastered on his face that Owen was sure his jaw would crack.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the Doctor. Doctor, this is that team I told you about. That's Ianto behind the desk. How'd you shut his cameras down by the way?" Jack didn't give the Doctor a chance to respond. "This is Owen, Toshiko and Gwen. I tried to hire Martha but she said she'd had enough of aliens for a little while."

"Can't say I blame her. The last trip was almost enough to turn me off. So, are you going to invite me in or am I going to stand dripping on your door step for the rest of the night?"


	12. Chapter 12

Honey lay in her bed that night listening to the soft strains of classical music rising through the vents from the apartment below. The deep, slow tones suited her mood perfectly. Before she'd left the coffee house she'd arranged with Hayden to come to his sleep clinic on Friday night to stay for the weekend but now she wasn't sure that it had been the right choice. She didn't want to risk the dreams ending. Not after the one she'd had earlier that day. The dreams had always seemed so real but they were nothing compared to what happened in the coffee house.

When she thought about it there were any number of reasons why her coat could have been damp. It was not as if it had been dripping, just slightly wet around the cuffs and collar. But she'd been there, wherever there was, and the Doctor had heard her. He had turned when Honey had called his name though he hadn't been able to see her.

The place had seemed somewhat familiar but she was not able to place it. She'd spent some time online trying to find a picture of the tower or the building but had come up with nothing. Honey was sure that it was somewhere the Doctor had been several times before but perhaps not at night, or in the rain, or from the bench she had awoken on.

So many question and so very few answers. Honey didn't truly think that the Professor was going to be able to answer many of them. She was strongly considering cancelling her appointment for Friday but at the same time she didn't want to give up the opportunity to discover anything new.

She sat up and moved to the edge of her bed.

"Well, looks like I've got three more sleeps to find a few answers of my own before I lend my brain to some mind probe."

Honey went about preparing for work the next day. The garden centre she worked in had just started its spring hours and Honey knew she had a long day ahead of her. By the time she got back into bed she was starting to feel the stress of the day creep up on her. She had a slight headache and was bordering on exhausted. She smiled.

It was when she was most tired and in the deepest sleeps that she had the best Doctor dreams. She considered staying up a little later to tire herself out a more but as it was she would only be getting about six hours of sleep. Honey settled into bed, read her book for a short while and was soon asleep, book propped up on her blankets, lamp still aglow.

Honey was not disappointed that night, at least not entirely. The dream was not nearly as vivid as the one at the coffee house but she still had he same feeling of presence as before. This time she stood on a metal walkway over small channel of running water. The space was large and filled with computers and other scientific equipment that Honey couldn't name. The whole room was brightly lit and at its centre was a large metallic pillar running up into blackness above.

On a level above her a group of people were gathered in front of a wide bank of flat screens stacked 3 and 4 high. There was someone sitting in a swivelly chair but Honey could only see his knees. An woman with dark hair and black rimmed glasses moved slightly to the side and Honey caught a glimpse of the person next to her.

"Captain Jack!" Honey declared aloud. "This must be Torchwood. I've never seen this before."

Feeling a surge of excitement she jogged along the walkway and up the stairs to the computer setup. She was sure the man at the computers was the Doctor. As she came up to the group she called a shy greeting but no one turned around. She reached out to touch the man standing closest to her. We wore a stylish pin stripe suit that should have seemed out of place in an underground, concrete bunker but oddly didn't.

Honey gave a gentle tug at one of his coat tail but the fabric didn't move. She could barely even feel it in her fingers. She reached out again and put her hand on his shoulder. This time he turned around but only for second, as if he had heard a noise behind him, then turned back to watch the person at the computer.

"It would seem that I am not really here this time." No one responded to her. "This is sort of creepy. I wonder what would happen if I tried to just push him out of the way."

Honey was almost desperate to see who was sitting in the chair. The Doctor had heard her before. Maybe he would now too. She called out as a test.

"Doctor?"

There was no audible response but the group did part and as it did Honey felt a joy so great spread through her it felt like her heart would burst. In the chair, looking back over his shoulder, was none other than the Doctor.

Someone asked him a question but Honey couldn't quite make out of words as it often was in dreams.

"Is there anyone else here?" the Doctor asked in a soft voice.

Honey saw Jack shake his head but again his words were muffled. The Doctor stared straight at her, right in the eyes, but gave no sign that he could actually see her. The he shook his head and smirked a little.

"Maybe I should give sleep another try. Give my great big, brilliant brain a bit of a rest. I seem to be going mad."

And then he turned back to the computer. Honey made several more attempts to contact him but he didn't turn around again. Somehow Honey could sense that he could hear her on some level but he kept his eyes focused on the screen in front of him.

Honey was bothered that she had made no more headway. The Doctor said very little else and she was unable to make out anything that the others said. Even the computer screens seemed blurry in here eyes. If it weren't for the one time he'd turned around she would have believed it to be an ordinary dream.

When Honey awoke the next morning she felt groggy. Normally she was up and about very quickly after her alarm went off but this morning her whole body seemed to drag. Her limbs were heavy, her eyes puffy and she just felt generally drained. She took a quick shower in an attempt to revitalize but afterwards wanted nothing more than to crawl back under her covers and escape once more into sleep.

It wasn't until she was on the bus headed for work that she opened her book and a slip of paper fell out with a message so bizarre scrawled on it that she nearly fainted.


	13. Chapter 13

_April 8__th__, 2008 con't._

_I guess technically it's the 9__th__ now but since we're being technical what I am going to write about happened on the 8__th__… I think. When I got back to my berth after watching the light up outside I was exhausted. Exhausted enough that I was seeing sharks disappear. It was about 23:30 when my head finally hit the pillow and when I woke up it was about 00:20. Barely an hour. And I was so deeply asleep. I didn't know that you could dream when you are that out of it but I did. _

_Actually calling it a dream is not quite right. It was more like a nightmare. Except that that's not quite right either. It wasn't a normal dream of any kind. No characters, no places or sequence of events, however convoluted. It was more like a series of images with an overlying sense of fear or dread and even anger. The images themselves weren't that bad. A lumpy, metal, dome type creature. I say creature for lack of a better word. There was a glass dome with a miniature city inside. The scariest image was of a sky on fire. I don't know how a sky can burn but this one did and that's were I felt most of the fear. But in the centre of it all was a bird. A huge bird. Unlike anything I've ever seen. It was like a combination of a jay, a swan and a paradise bird. Maybe it was a phoenix. I guess it would have been the right colour because it was a flaming red. But you know how in dreams sometimes you just know things to be true? Like when you dream of a man (or woman) that you have never seen before but in the dream you know them to be your spouse or partner or whatever. I just knew that the bird wasn't a phoenix. I don't know what it was but it was magnificent. Like something out of Harry Potter. _

_Anyway, the dream disturbed me enough that I woke up and can't seem to get back to sleep. From the sounds of it everyone else has called it quits for the night so maybe I'll get a start on… oh yeah, I'm not supposed to mention that. Crap, well now anyone that reads this is going to know I have a secret. If I were smart I would erase this bit but I wrote it in pen. I could scribble over it but that would mar my lovely little journal. Bugger. Oh well. Let's hope they have as much respect for my privacy as I have for theirs…. _

Everyone else one the base had indeed gone to bed. Natalie found it somewhat odd that there was no one awake to monitor things inside and out of the habitat but then again this was an American operation. Maybe they just did things differently.

Natalie made her way back up to the lab which was much colder now with everyone gone and the lights off. Glad that she had brought a warm coat with her Natalie bundled up and sat down at the main computer. Captain Jack had given her a special tool for hacking into mainframes. All she had to do was hold it onto the computer at any point and it would automatically decode passwords and encrypted files and break down files walls. Better still it was able to cover its own tracks. After Natalie removed the device a program would be left behind to rebuild and re-encrypt and self destruct upon completion. The technology that Torchwood possessed amazed her.

It tool only seconds and she was able to access even the most private files of every crew member. After sifting through several gigs of information Natalie discovered that despite the American government's bravado they knew even less about this phenomenon than Torchwood did. Of course they suspected something sinister but it seemed that they were exploring all more logical hypotheses first.

Jack had not gone into great detail when describing just what she should be looking for but he had not failed to get the point across that it was possible that it was an alien artefact. At first she had not believed a word he said but he had quickly proven the point.

Snooping a little deeper Natalie dug up her own file. Apparently the rest of the crew really believe she was here entirely on a scientific basis. Of course she had no proof of whether or not the crew had been given a private briefing on her but according to this she was nothing more than a researcher jumping at the opportunity for more dive time. The file gave no explanation as to why she had been given authority to abort the mission at her discretion but with Torchwood's access she was able to bring up and additional file attached to her dossier.

There was still no mention of Torchwood or any kind of suspicion but Natalie was shocked to find that the directive giving her authority had come from the highest level of the American government. The President himself.

Natalie was astounded. Not only must Jack have considerable sway with the British government but her contact, Glyn, must have exceptional power to influence at that level. She'd understood that what she was doing was important but not to this extent. So, although she felt better about her relationship with the crew, she was doubly nervous about the task ahead of her.

Natalie knew that she had only one shot at finding out what was down here. If she failed who knew when she or Torchwood might get the opportunity again.

Breathing a deep sigh and feeling exhaustion again creeping up on her, Natalie closed the computer down and was about to leave the lab when a small blue light in the far corner of the room started to flash.

"That's it. The warning."

And Natalie panicked.


	14. Chapter 14

Jack watched as the Doctor typed furiously at the computer. This was something that always amazed Jack. No matter where or when he was the Doctor could sit down at any computer, machine or other technical device and know immediately where everything was. He breezed through 16 digit passwords and burned through firewalls with barely a milliseconds thought. Sometimes Jack thought the Doctor must have eyes like a chameleon. Independent of one another and able to asses and assimilate separate information instantly.

The entire Torchwood team watched in wonderment as the Doctor broke into their most heavily guarded files. Some that only their leader had access to. Without warning he spun around and stared at them intensely. Sensing that he was not looking at them they all glance back and moved apart so that he could see behind them.

"What is it, Doctor?" asked Jack while peering over Owen's head.

"Is there anyone else here?"

"Other than a weevil in a cell down two levels, no. Just us."

"Maybe I should give sleep another try. Give my great big, brilliant brain a bit of a rest. I seem to be going mad."

Turning back around with a bit of a smirk on his face he began typing even more furiously if that was even possible. He paused on one screen with a graph with a red line that seemed to spike suddenly near the end and then closed the file. Still typing madly with one hand he reached over his shoulder with the other.

"I need something to write with. Anything. Pen, pencil, quill, blood, whatever, I just need it quickly."

Tosh handed him a pen from a clipboard she was holding and, still typing, he scribbled something down on a scrap of paper. The room seemed very quiet as his hand left the keyboard and reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin leather wallet. He carefully folded the piece of paper and slipped it into the wallet which he then returned to his pocket.

The Doctor pressed a key and the graph he had stopped so briefly at appeared on the screen again.

"Just in the nick of time."

"What was?" Jack asked.

"Not to worry my nosey nosey friend. Now, I'd say it's about time for a cuppa and maybe some of that pizza. Wadda ya say?"

The Doctor stood and rubbed his hands briskly together. His grin faded as he noticed five pairs of confused and bothered eyes staring back at him.

"Was it something I said?"

Jack stepped forward and stood beside the Doctor and looked back at his team.

"I think it might be time for some real introductions."

"I'll say." mumbled Owen. "The guy's new and he just went through pretty much every file we've ever created."

Jack opened him mouth to explain but the Doctor spoke first.

"I'm sorry if you feel I've invaded you're privacy but trust me, there was no secret information in there that I didn't already know. In fact I provided most of it."

This time Jack was quicker.

"Remember all the times I've mentioned, in as many words, needing to find a Doctor? Well, this is the Doctor I was talking about. He's an alien, a Time Lord to be precise, and Torchwood, the original Torchwood, was founded because of him and his annoying habit of sticking his nose into everyone's business." At this he turned to the Doctor and said, "I'm the nosey one, pal? This coming from the guy that just went through all my files."

The Doctor grinned and winked at him and to his teams surprise Jack blushed a deep pink.

"Moving on," Jack said loudly. "The battle of Canary Warf; this is the guy that ended it. The Sycorax; he sent them running for the hills. The severed hand that bubbled away in that jar for so long, that was his."

That comment got the same reaction as always. A double take of the Doctor's right hand.

The Doctor pulled it out of his pocket and waved at them.

"It grew back. Isn't that something."

Always wishing to avoid awkward silences the Doctor walked across the room to a long brown couch against the wall. He bundled up his coat, lay down with his feet up and tucked the jacket behind his head.

"Might try for that sleep now." And he closed his eyes, half a smile still lingering on his face. When nothing happened he popped open one eye and found everyone staring at him again.

"Chatty lot, they are."

"They're not usually like this. You've made quite an impression, Doctor."

Jack asked Ianto to make some tea and sent the other three off on other tasks then dragged a chair over to the couch. The Doctor sat up right away and looked Jack right in the eyes. He spoke in a low voice knowing that the rest of Jack's people were probably listening anyway.

"Jack, I need to know of every little toy, project or investigation you've got going on here. Everything involving perception filters, psychic energy, time or space manipulators, everything because something very strange is going on and the TARDIS is avoiding my questions."

"Is this anything to do with the note you gave to the psychic paper earlier?"

"Yes. No. Possibly. Probably." Each word was said with absolute certainty as only the Doctor could do.

"In that case you should have a look at what I've got on my personal computer. It certainly falls into at least one of your categories. It's seems to relate to the rift but I can't make head nor tail of it."

The Doctor looked deadly serious.

"Show me."


	15. Chapter 15

**_I apologize for the mix up with this chapter. What can I say? I was very tired when I wrote it. Hope it makes more sense now!_**

Honey bent down to pick up the scrap of paper that had fallen out of her book. She stared at it in utter disbelief.

"How is this even possible?"

Although the ink was clear and legible the paper was oddly transparent. Not only because Honey could see her book through it but it didn't seem to have any texture. She could see it in her hand but it was like holding air or the finest of silks. Even as she gazed at it it seemed to be losing its substance.

Scrambling desperately with her free hand Honey pulled her mobile out of her pocket and snapped a picture of the note. Still unable to believe what she was seeing she read it again, this time aloud.

"I can hear you… sort of… it's complicated… I'll explain later. But I can help. From The Doctor."

Below the hastily scrawled words was a big smiley face. Her first thought was that this was some sort of joke. Maybe the professor had slipped it into her book before he had left. But he didn't seem the sort to do something so cruel. No one else knew about her dreams of the Doctor, at least not anyone that had been anywhere near her book in the last 24 hours.

Honey was in such a daze that she missed her stop and ended up having to walk 4 blocks back and was 20 minutes late. On the way she was nearly hit by a truck, almost fell into a construction pit and walked into a telephone pole.

The note had vanished from her hand only minutes after taking the picture but the image was burned into her mind. Honey had never really believed that the Doctor could actually exist. After all, nothing even remotely similar to what Honey had dreamed about had ever happened anywhere. England, Canada or elsewhere. She'd never admitted it but secretly, every now and again, Honey actually thought that she might be a little bit insane.

She'd continued through the day with her head in a haze and arrived home only to lie on the floor of her living room and stare at the ceiling. The image in her mobile had disappeared and was now only a picture of her hand and the floor of the bus. She was doubting that she had ever seen the note at all. What if she had actually just fallen asleep on the bus and had another dream. A dream so vivid that it was impossible to tell it apart from reality.

Sitting up she reached for her phone. Picking up a piece of paper from the coffee table she dialled a number.

"Hello. May I speak to Professor Delano please."

"Just a moment please. He'll be right with you." Came a perky, artificial voice from the other end of the line.

Honey drummed her fingers impatiently on the floor while she waited through tacky musak for the Professor to pick up. Several minutes later Honey was ready to quit and put down the phone.

"Hello, this is Hayden speaking."

Honey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Professor it's Honey…" she'd almost said her last name. "Just Honey calling."

"Oh good evening young lady. I apologize for taking such a long time to reach the phone. I was getting a patient settled in for the night. What can I do for you?"

"Actually I was hoping that I might be able to come in sooner than we had planned. Some things have happened since yesterday that have me somewhat worried about… quite a bit actually."

Through the phone Honey could hear papers being shuffled and the professor muttering to himself.

"You are in luck. According to my files here a patient that was supposed to return tonight has cancelled. If you wish you may come in right now."

"That's great. I can be there within the hour."

Honey and the professor spoke for a few moments longer discussing what she should bring with her and arranging for an emergency contact and other PR type stuff. Feeling very apprehensive about the coming night Honey set out for the clinic.

As she walked down the street she had the oddest sensation that could only be described as her brain itching. Her scalp was tingling but from the inside. She felt as if she were thinking about something especially hard, trying to form some kind of thought, only she wasn't. These sensations were getting stranger and stranger. She only hoped that whatever was going on the professor might be able to assure her that she was safe and she didn't lose this connection with the man called the Doctor.


	16. Chapter 16

When Jack had told Natalie that everything she'd need was in place on the habitat what he had specifically been referring to was high tech system of little blue lights in every room attached to sensors outside the base. It was designed to detect movement. But not just any kind of movement. Alien movement. Alien movement directly outside the base within at least 100 meters.

"Ok. Calm down, Natalie. Jack told you what to do in this situation. He said there's alien activity down here all the time and it could be something harmless the size of a golf ball."

The light was blinking so rapidly now that it was almost impossible to tell one flash from the next. Whatever was out there was almost right next to the the habitat. Natalie rushed to her computer and through a series of hidden files accessed the program attached to the motion detector. She switched on the infra red cameras and waited for an image to appear.

There was only one camera, located on the very top of the largest pod. It was hidden among the radio transmitters and SONAR relays. He had to do one full sweep of the perimeter before it would show Natalie anything.

Jack had said it would take roughly 30 seconds for the camera to power up and start transmitting. Not very long at all but still the seconds seemed to drag by and Natalie's heart was pounding so hard she thought it would break right through her ribs.

After what seemed like hours something finally appeared on her screen. The camera started above the main hatch and moved slowly clockwise. The picture appeared as an eerie landscape bathed in green light illuminating the smallest heat source. Even the ground seemed to glow but Natalie knew that was normal. There was a surprising amount of heat emanating from the sea floor in this region and always had been.

At first there was nothing unusual, only the darting images of tiny fish, the occasional scuttling creature amid the rocks. Then when the camera was close to completing a full turn and Natalie was thinking that maybe the detector had detected falsely, it started. It began as a wispy light drifting into the field of view. Like trailing seaweed or kept. Natalie held her breath as the camera move closer.

When the creature filled the whole screen Natalie stopped the camera. It didn't appear to be a creature at all. It was more like a fire. Its long trailing appendages seemed to flicker and dance, never in the same place for long and then disappearing from sight altogether. Its centre glowed brightly and pulsed like a heartbeat. The image as a whole was difficult to focus on. It changed too rapidly and Natalie could only relate it to watching people dance in a strobe light.

Natalie was mesmerized by its haunting gracefulness and wraith like beauty. Her vision swam in and out of focus and her ears started to ring just a little bit. Unknowingly she leaned in closer to the glowing screen, her nose almost touching it. Suddenly the image flared up and became so bright that it blinded her. Clutching her face she sank to her knees.

Without warning her head began to scream. White light exploded behind her eyes and she heard, saw and felt nothing except for the howling in her skull. It was like pain and pleasure all at once. The voice sang to her but burned her with its intensity. The sensations were too much and Natalie let out a piercing yelp of pain. She couldn't hear herself and wasn't even aware the burning had stopped until she opened her eyes to find Oliver kneeling beside herself.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concern evident in his voice. "I heard you scream. What happened?"

Natalie stood and got back into her seat. He head ached and the light of the room seared her eyes.

"I'll be ok, I think." Knowing that she couldn't reveal what she had seen to any member of the crew she gave the only explanation she could think of. "There was some water on the table and I think I put my laptop on it. There must have been a surge because the next thing I knew I was on the floor."

"Electrocuted! That shouldn't be able to happen down here! Everything is completely insulated. We're surrounded by water."

Natalie realized that was probably the worst reason she could have come up with. Now everyone would be awake and crawling all over the base looking for the source the surge. They would go over the read outs and images from the last half hour and would see the creature. They would question her and her presence on the habitat more than the already did.

"Natalie, I'm going to wake the rest of the crew. We're going to get you checked out and find out what happened to you." He gave her a reassuring smile and put a hand on her cheek. "You just hold tight. Jessie is our medic and one of the best around. She'll take good care of you."

Natalie returned the smile though half heartedly. As Oliver crossed the room to the inter comm station Natalie turned back to her computer. Her eyes ached but she forced herself to look at the screen. The creature was gone. Nothing remained on the screen except for a faint image of the sea bed outside. The only thing that Natalie could make out was the outline of a large rock. The same rock that the shark had swam over earlier that night.

There wasn't time to process the information. Before Oliver could turn around and come back to her she closed down all of her secret Torchwood files. It was only as an after though that she tipped the remainder of her glass of water onto the table. She watched as the liquid crept across the surface and under her computer. There was a brief crackle, the screen went black and Oliver was back at her side.

"Common love. I'll walk you out of here."

Natalie stood and leaned gratefully into Oliver's side. His strong arm around her felt good and she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be lead down the stairs and to the med bay where Jessie awaited her arrival.

There was nothing she could do about the crew performing a thorough search and Natalie only hoped that Torchwood's secrets were as closely guarded as she'd been told.


	17. Chapter 17

The Doctor sat at the desk in Jack's office watching the same time lapse image that the Torchwood team had watched just hours earlier. His eyes widened as he neared the end and the rift began to splinter all over the surface of the planet.

"Good job, Jack. The rift's been mostly harmless for hundreds if not thousands of years and Torchwood gets its hands on it and all hell breaks loose. Literally."

"Oh be fair." Jack said with some anger in his voice. "We were tricked but a very crafty old man. How would you have reacted if Rose had shown up out of nowhere and told you that the only way to save the world was to open the rift?"

The Doctor's face hardened but he didn't look at Jack.

"I would have said 'you're not Rose' and then done everything I could to make sure the rift had closed before whatever was inside could get out. What do you guys do? You fire up that rift manipulator and shatter time and space over the whole Earth. Why did you build that thing anyway?"

Jack pulled a chair around the desk and sat down.

"My plan was to some day close the rift with it. Mostly harmless or not what was able to slip through was not fun to deal with. The machine was not supposed to be able to work the other way but Owen figured it out and out came Abaddon. He wasn't a lot of fun to deal with either in case you wanted to know."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'll bet. But you survived? After that what did you expect? The thing that devours all life couldn't take you down and you thought I'd be able to tell you something different? But why didn't you tell me about this last time I saw you?"

"We were a little busy saving the Universe if you'll recall?"

"Oh yes. Can't get a word in edge wise with the Master around."

A sad look drifted across the Doctor's face. The Master had been the only other Time Lord left in the Universe, hidden away at the end of space and time, disguised as a human. He'd been killed because of his own vile scheming and refused to regenerate leaving the Doctor once again all alone. Last of the Time Lords.

Jack was about to attempt to say something supportive when the Doctor reached the end of the time lapse and paused the stream.

"What is that?" He pointed to the little red dot.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell us. It been there the whole time but it was hidden. We only just… ."

"It's got a perception filter." The Doctor cut it.

"How do you do that?" Jack said in exasperation. "That took me days to figure out and you get it minutes."

"We can't all be brilliant, can we?" Said the Doctor with a grin. "Besides, it takes more than a perception filter to pull the wool over my eyes and I already knew that something was tampering with psychic energies. But I figured it was you. That's why I came. So, what else do you know about it?"

"Nothing yet. The American's got to it first and managed to deny us access."

"Aw, the American's! They'll bugger it up worse than Torchwood." He glanced at Jack. "No offence."

"For which comment? Americans or Torchwood?"

"Your choice."

The Doctor stood up and began pacing the room and talking rapidly.

"So, I've found the source of my psychic disturbance. There's only a few species out there that can toy with perception filters _and_ can harness psychic energy. Half of those were lost with Gallifrey so it's the other half we have to look at. There's the Griffles but they're allergic to water. Maybe The Singing Sisters of Sintgarix IV but they don't leave their palace…"

This went on for some time as the Doctor went through the lists in his head. Jack reclaimed his chair and watched in amusement. After several more names and places he got tired of listening and turned his view to the computer and noticed something.

"Umm, Doctor." No response. "Doctor!" He yelled.

The Doctor glanced up and Jack gestured to the computer. Putting his glasses back on the Doctor came around to stare at the screen. The numbers in the corner were rising rapidly and the red dot was pulsing.

"Something is creating a massive amount of energy." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and made a mental note of the location of the dot.

"Doctor, I have an agent down there now. In a habitat on the sea floor. What is this? Is she in danger?"

"I really don't know, Jack. Whatever's down there is waking up. You should call those people up right away. Pull whatever string you have to but get them out of there."

The Doctor took off out the door, grabbing his coat and umbrella on the way.

"Where are you going?" Jack called after him.

"Back to the TARDIS."

"Wait for me!" Jack ran after him calling orders to his team as he went, telling them where all the necessary information was to begin recalling the dive team. He grabbed the Doctor's arm before he could reach the elevator and steered him the other way.

"There's a faster way out."

Standing on a slab of concrete Jack activated something with his wrist teleporter.

"I thought I deactivated that?" Asked the Doctor.

"The teleport yes but it's still a handy little remote."

There was a jolt and the concrete started to rise towards a newly opened hole in the season. They arrive at the top in open air right beside the fountain in front of the Millennium Art's Centre.

"Well, isn't that clever. This was the perception filter I picked up then. This way!"

The Doctor with his unerring sense of direction took off across the pavement and Jack followed. A few twists and turns and they were back at the TARDIS. They flew inside and The Doctor set straight to work. He plugged his sonic screwdriver into a socket beside a knob that looked to Jack like the combination dial of a safe. The Doctor put his ear down to the console as he turned the dial this way and that, like tuning a radio.

"Press that button over there, Jack." He point to a whole line of buttons running beside row of switches.

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter. They all do the same thing. At least they did last time."

Jack rolled his eyes. In the TARDIS the simplest task could spell disaster. He suspected the Doctor didn't even know what everything in here did. The Time Lord just followed his instincts as he went wildly about pulling levers and tying things up with string. Luckily he was almost always right.

"Now, Jack. The button." His voice was getting squeaky as it often did when he shouted. Jack twirled his finger around and at random picked a big orange button. The engines came to life with a familiar groaning sound.

"Where are we going?"

"Following the signal. You can swim right?"


	18. Chapter 18

Honey arrived at the clinic an hour and a half after speaking with the professor. The lights in the foyer were still on and a young, blond woman sat behind the desk. She was flipping through a People magazine and looking rather bored.

"Welcome to the Delano Sleep Clinic. What can I help you with?" The girl seemed pleased to have someone to talk to.

"I'm here to see Professor Delano." Honey replied.

The girl glanced at her watch.

"Is he expecting you?"

Honey nodded and gave her name.

"Seriously? That's a fun name." Honey looked away and made a noise somewhere between yeah and right that really just came out as a grunt.

"His office is at the end of the hall. Just be sure to be as quiet as you can. There are several patients asleep at the moment."

Honey thanked the girl and headed down the long, dimly lit hall. There were several rooms on each side but none appeared to be occupied. Maybe the patients are in another area, Honey thought.

At the very end of the corridor there were large, double doors made of dark wood. A light showed under them and Honey saw a shadow pass in front of it several times. She was this close and Honey was still unsure that this was the right path. She felt that Professor Delano was under the impression that she wanted the dreams to stop. She wanted to keep dreaming about the Doctor, she just didn't want it to kill her.

She stood outside the door for a long time before gathering the courage to knock. When she finally did the Professor opened the door quickly. He seemed anxious.

"Ah, Honey. You made it. I was beginning to think you weren't coming. Come in and have a seat."

The office was large and spacious and traditionally masculine. The two chairs before his desk and the couch against the wall were both of a dark, chocolaty leather. The desk, bookshelves and other small items were all fashioned from dark reddish wood. Behind the desk was a long row of windows with dark brown roman blinds pulled tightly shut.

Honey sat on the edge of one of the large chairs while the professor burrowed in his desk for the right files. He pulled forth a thick pile of papers and set it down in front of himself.

"As you can see I've been doing a bit of research on your case. I've come up with quite a bit of information regarding other similar cases but as I said before they all seem to apply to people with mental illnesses or delusions of psychic ability."

He handed Honey several pieces of paper to which she gave a cursory glance as he continued.

"As you can see in the cases of the individuals with mental illnesses the dreams that they experience, though they often cause bodily harm, are never as vivid and coherent as your dreams. On the other hand, the second category has dreams as realistic and convincing though they rarely cause the dreamer any distress. You seem to have created a whole new category unto yourself."

"Professor, before we go any farther I want to make something clear."

"Of course, my research depends on your happiness. And again, please call me Hayden."

"Alright, Hayden. I just want to make sure we're on the same page here. These dreams, for all the damage they've done, they've also changed my life. I don't want them to stop. Whether the Doctor is real or not I don't want to lose him. I just want… Well, I don't rightly know what I want. I guess really I want someone to tell me that this is happening for a reason."

Hayden leaned forward on his desk. Honey saw a spark in his eye that made her want to look away. For a moment she sensed that something wasn't right and then it was gone.

"My dear, short of giving you drugs there is likely little I can do to stop these dreams from taking place. I can strive to discover from what area of the brain they originate, I can help you to understand how to gain some control over them, but I can't altogether stop them."

Honey and Hayden stared at each other and then she nodded.

"Good. Now let's go over what we'll be doing…"

Later Honey lay in her bed in her spartan little room. Nothing but the essentials. A bedside table to hold a glass of water and a lamp. A small door in the corner lead to an even smaller bathroom. And there was a fan on in one corner to create some white noise. According to the Professor white noise was important to deep sleep. He didn't explain why though. The air was pleasingly cool and the sheets warm and soft. She'd had her choice of pillows and blankets making it altogether a lovely, restful environment. But sleep eluded her.

Honey was all too aware of the small electrodes attached to her temples, the camera in the ceiling monitoring her movement and most of all the door of the room that was locked from the outside. She felt like a prisoner and she couldn't get over the feeling of over all uneasiness.

Other than the noise of the fan and the rustle of her own bedclothes Honey heard little else. No footsteps. No doors opening or closing. None of the usual sounds that one would hear at night. Were there really other patients here? Surely they would wake in the night at some point. This was a sleep clinic. Isn't this where insomniacs and sleepwalkers came for help? Something wasn't right.

But eventually the weariness she held felt earlier in the day caught up and sleep took her. Honey dreamed but not of the Doctor. Just a regular dream of random people and events. She awoke in the morning feeling better rested than the day before but was disappointed. Not only did she miss out on the Doctor but she would have wait longer for her answers.

The Professor asked her stay in the clinic during the day. Said it would help to make the clinic feel more like a place she belonged and perhaps she would dream that night. He showed Honey to an entertainment room with books, magazines, a TV and computer, everything she could ask for to keep herself occupied during the day. No one else entered the room all day except another desk girl to ask if she needed anything. Honey asked if there were any other patients around, someone she could talk to, but the girl told her that they had all gone home for the day.

That evening while she was eating a quiet supper by herself Honey overheard the Professor and someone else talking. There was a vent in the wall and Honey couldn't help but listen in. She dragged a chair over and stood on it, her ear up to the grate. How cliché, she thought.

"How long do we wait, Hayden? If she doesn't dream tonight can we keep her for another night? She'll catch on eventually."

"She'll dream tonight. I've made sure of that."

"What have you done?"

"I've added a few extra ingredients to her evening meal. A mild mixture of sedatives and hallucinogenics. They should take effect very quickly and then we'll have the information we need."

"You clever old man. Does she suspect anything?"

"She asked one of the desk girls about other patients earlier but for the most part she's kept quiet."

Honey stepped down from the chair in shock. She'd been right after all. Something was terribly wrong here and these people were after her. Drugs in her food! What was she going to do? She had to find a way out.

Not bothering to go back to her room for any of her belongs she headed for the main hallway. She peered around the corner. No one in sight. As quietly as she could she hurried towards the front door.

It was in sight, so close. She was going to make it. She stopped at the door to the atrium and glanced around. To her surprise there was no one behind the desk. There were no other doors off the room so anyone else in the building must be behind her.

"This seems way too easy."

As she stepped out from the hallway her feet failed her. Her head began to spin and she tilted to the side. The drugs were taking effect.

"Fight it, Honey. You're so close."

Forcing her feet to go one after the other she staggered towards the door. Halfway there Honey looked down. The tiles were turning to water and deep water at that. Below the surface she could see shadows moving. Creatures lurking in the depths waiting for her to go one step farther and plunge into the abyss.

Honey shook her head hard and squeezed her eyes shut.

"No, it's not real. It's just the drugs."

Opening her eyes again she used every ounce of will power she possessed and stepped into the water. Nothing happened. They were tiles again. But her limbs were getting heavier. She longed to stop and rest her eyes just for a moment. She pushed on.

Her legs felt like lead. Each step was a labour of Herculean proportions. Time dragged and Honey thought she would be found for sure and then the door was right there in front of her. Everything around her shifted and twisted into insidious and deceptive images creeping in around her. Panic lay right along side the drug induced stupor that threatened to overtake her.

But the handle was solid in her hand and in moments she would be safe. She was almost there. Honey ignored the picture on the wall that was yelling at her to turn back while she still could and turned the know. Nothing happened. Honey turned the handle harder. Still nothing.

"No. NO!" She screamed at the door. "Let me go."

She pounded on the door in futility. Tear streamed down her face and she sank to the floor, leaning back against the door. Water lapped at her feet. Even the plants around her were dizzy and swayed in sync with her head. A tall creature with feathers falling around him wadded through the water towards her.

Honey tried to call out for help but nothing but whispered inanities came from her mouth. The creature spoke. His words were green slime that fell to the water at his feet landing heavily, sending droplets everywhere that evaporated into thin air.

"I'm sorry little girl but you cannot leave. Not when we are so close to achieving our goal. I promised not to hurt you and if you struggle I may have to break that promise."

The creature raised an appendage and pointed to something beside Honey.

"Take her back to her room. I shall be there momentarily to attach the machine."

Hard metal hands clamped down on her arms. Muscles and joints protesting Honey managed to turn her head to the side.

"No. Not them. Anyone but them. Not the Cybermen. I don't want to be a Cyberman."

But the words didn't work. Her mouth wouldn't cooperate with her brain. She tried to struggle but she was too weak.

"What is she talking about, Professor?"

The voice came from beside her. A normal voice. So it wasn't a Cyberman. But the hands still burned like cold metal. The face was still the unchanging visage of the metal men with no emotions.

"It's just jibberish. The drugs are taking effect."

Honey felt her self being dragged across the floor. She tried to move her feet but they were not taking commands. She gave up and that's when she started to float. The frigid hands left her body and she drifted up, up, up until she was far away from Hayden, the clinic and the Cybermen. Away and safe.


	19. Chapter 19

_April 10__th__, 2008_

_Well, I'm still down here. I figured they'd send me up right quick after what happened last night, either because of illness or the discovery of my secret goals. I don't know why but they weren't able to detect the creature that I saw. They found nothing unusual. Of course they didn't know that they were looking for anything alive. They think that they were looking for the source of an electrical surge. Apparently my computer did a bit of self repair and when they tried to turn it back on it was fine. I've got some pretty cool toys it would seem. _

_But anyway it didn't really help my case that Jessie was unable to find any signs of electrocution on me. I couldn't tell them what really happened. Even if I could tell them there's no way that I could explain it. It was like the creature was inside my head. Trying to communicate with me but speaking in a totally different language. Not just a language I couldn't understand but one that I couldn't properly hear. _

_I'm scared. I know I'm supposed to stay down here as long as possible but I don't think I can. I don't want to experience that creature again. I can only hope that the information I gathered is enough. I'm going to abort the mission._

Natalie closed her journal. She was back in her berth under orders of bed rest but there was little chance of her sleeping again on this habitat. She'd hardly slept as it was but her fear over powered her exhaustion. She'd spent the morning answering questions about what she had been doing in the lab at night and what tests exactly had see been running when the surge hit. She had amazed even herself with the fabrication she'd been able to come up with on such short notice.

Since her laptop had repaired its self thanks to Torchwood's upgrade Natalie had reviewed the footage and readings it had automatically gathered at the time of the appearance. The image of the creature had been captured perfectly and watching now Natalie was even more convinced that they should evacuate to base as soon as possible.

She wasn't able to decipher the numbers and symbols scrolling up the side of the screen but Jack had told her where to expect the normal ranges to sit. The numbers were miles above where they should be. Towards the end of the video the numbers spiked even higher and plummeted down quiet suddenly as the alien retreated.

Natalie watched the video several times but was still unable to see where the creature had retreated _to_. The shifting tendrils had seemed to shrink back in on themselves, curling around the centre like wings until it was a tight sphere and then it was gone. A slight glow had remained for a moment longer and then the screen was as blank as when she had started.

Regardless of the fact that the creature had not actually done any damage to the base Natalie was convinced that this was something the Torchwood was better suited to handle. Stealing herself for the unhappy reception she was sure to encounter, Natalie left her berth and headed for the lab.

Natalie found the rest of the crew sitting together in the meeting room below the lab. There was an uncomfortable silence as she entered the room and the conversation stopped. Natalie could tell that something had changed their opinion of her.

Not bothering to beat around the bush she sat down at the head of the table and addressed them as if she were the boss. Might as well use the authority I was given, she thought.

"Everyone, there have been some changes made to our mission here. I know you are aware of the fact that I have been given the authority to abort this mission should feel that it has become unsafe and I have decided that it's no longer advisable for us to be here. I'm sorry but I have to order a full extraction."

Natalie tried to keep her eyes on the crew but her gaze faltered and her head dropped. The tension in the room was palpable and Natalie began to wonder how she could really assert her authority. It would be so easy for them to just lock her in her room and stop her from calling for help. When they surfaced at the end of the week they could claim that she'd had a panic attack, something that often happened to even the most experienced of divers, and they'd had to confine her to her quarters for her own safety.

Oliver was the first to break the silence.

"Who are you, Natalie? I mean your file _says_ Natalie Brown, Marine Biologist for the Royal Wildlife Society, but I don't think that's entirely true. Why have you, a Welsh nobody with no military rank or affiliation, got authority on an American mission?"

The others pitched in their chorus of disapprovals and Natalie raised her hands to silence them.

"There is a very good reason for that decision. I have more dive hours than anyone else in the UK in this region of the Celtic Sea. I know the area well and I know the dangers and their warning signs. In recent years there has been some activity on the sea floor that has cause parts of the shelf to collapse. My readings show that there is some instability in the bedrock beneath us."

Natalie was surprised by the assuredness in her own voice. It was true about her being the foremost expert in this dive zone but everything else was a falsification. The readings she was about to show them had been created weeks earlier when she and Jack had first planned the mission. The files were designed to adapt to current time, date and charts and appear completely authentic when viewed by the Americans.

Oliver flipped through the pages on Natalie's computer and then pushed it over to the man beside him. Everyone took a thorough look at the information and then looked to Oliver.

"We've pick up no such readings in the last 24 hours since arriving. I personally am not inclined to believe that you are as… well educated as you claim to be. However, it seems we have orders from above to leave the base immediately. The sub is on its way now."

Natalie's jaw dropped. Why hadn't they said anything sooner? Her act had all been for nothing. All that preparing of what to say and creating the false records. Then she had a thought. The only reason they would be recalled from someone above was if there was true danger either from an oceanographer's perspective or Torchwood's.

Thinking fast Natalie said, "I'm just glad to know that we'll be safe, never mind who the order came from. I'm going to go prepare my kit."

Grabbing her computer from in front of Oliver, Natalie hurried out of the room.

Back in her own quarters she used another of Torchwood's toys to tap into the habitats mainframe. Natalie read every report generated in the past 24 hours. There were no tell tale signs of any activity below the bedrock, or shifts in the currents or temperatures to indicated a storm brewing. It must be Torchwood then.

Twenty minutes later Natalie still had no idea why they were being recalled. Besides the creature last night Torchwood's scanners had picked up no other alien activity. Jack had told her that Torchwood would not be interfering in anyway unless there was a major change in their readings from on shore. Comparing last nights records to past readings Natalie figured that it had been a regular occurrence. The creature emerged and then disappeared quite regularly though until now no one had know that it was a creature.

"I think it may be time to give my friend Glyn a call."

Natalie needed some answers and she left her berth again to make a call to her Torchwood contact. The communications centre was all the end of the row of sleep pods. It was connected to a long cable that reached half way to the surface to carry the radio signal up and out.

Within all the sleep pods there were supply rooms filled with plastic wrapped pillows and blankets, spare jump suits, extra rations and emergence supplies. In the event of an emergency, or when given the correct password, the doors would open allowing the supplies to be used. Generally speaking there should never be anyone inside these lockers, especially not with the door closed.

As Natalie passed the unit in her pod she heard a sound like an engine struggling to start, over and over again, with a touch of snoring in the back ground. She pressed her ear up against the door and listened. A door creaked open. A door on hinges. Rusty hinges. Then there were voices. She thought she recognised one of them.

"Where are we?"

"A closet by the looks of it and under water by the way my ears just popped. So I'm guessing storage locker somewhere under the Pond."

"A closet. Do you even know how to aim this thing?"

"You'd be surprised how often this happens. I once landed in Davy Jones' locker. Boy was he surprised."

Natalie jumped back from the door. There were people in there. Behind a locked door at the bottom of the ocean and wondering where they were.

She was tempted to run away but where would she go? Besides, they didn't sound dangerous and she'd find out eventually. She was a Torchwood mercenary. This was her job.

"Here goes nothing."

She punched in the password for the door and heaved on the wheel lock. The huge spigot spun and the voices stopped. Natalie opened the door.


	20. Chapter 20

The engines slowed and eventually whined to a halt. Jack looked at the Doctor questioningly.

"We're not really going to have to swim are we?"

"Of course not." The Doctor gave a Jack a look like, _where on Earth did you get an idea like that,_ and headed for the door. "Let see where we are, shall we."

He swung the door open and stepped out into a space roughly the size of what the inside the TARDIS would be were human logic to be applied. Jack squeezed out beside him.

"Where are we?" Jack asked as he inched past the Doctor only to find himself facing a wall filled with boxes of Juicy Niblet's Dehydrated Beans on Toast. "That's disgusting" He muttered.

The Doctor ignored the latter and answered the former.

"A pantry by the looks of it and under water by the way my ears just popped. So I'm guessing storage locker somewhere under the Pond."

Jack shook his head in disbelief.

"A closet. Do you even know how to aim this thing?"

"You'd be surprised how often this happens. I once landed in Davy Jones' locker. Boy was he surprised."

"Pissed off too I bet." The sarcasm practically dripped from Jack's mouth.

"Oh, I should say. Landed right on his science fair project." The Doctor completely ignored Jack's snarky remark and kept talking. "He sent that Leviathan of his after me. Little did he know that squid head was an old friend of mine. We had a nice cuppa, reminisced about old times and then…"

The Doctor was interrupted mid babble as the door to the closet began to open.

"Ah, here comes the welcoming committee."

The door swung open to reveal a middle aged and attractive brunette standing in a round passage way. Her jaw dropped and she blinked several times rapidly before reach out to poke Jack in the chest.

"Jack?"

"Natalie! I guess this is next time, beautiful. Are you glad to see me or it is cold in here?" Jack winked at her and the Doctor elbowed him.

"What? I was just saying hello."

"You're always just saying hello." Replied the Doctor while wagging an admonitory finger at the man. "Wait a minute here! There shouldn't be a welcoming committee. What button did you press, Jack."

"The orange one."

The Doctor sucked a breath in through his teeth and made a slightly pained face.

"Should have gone for the fuchsia one."

"I though you said they all do the same thing?"

"Well, they do for the most part. But that's neither here nor there, then or now. We're here now and this is Natalie. Hello, Natalie. Lovely to meet you. Sorry to barge in. You the only one about then?"

The woman nodded mutely.

"Excellent." Said the Doctor with steepled fingers and a slightly evil voice.

Jack smiled. "You watch The Simpson's too?"

"Oh yeah! That shows still doing reruns 500 years from now. Some things never get old."

Natalie finally found her voice and spoke up.

"I'm sorry but if I might interrupt."

The Doctor turned to her. "Yes, of course. By all means generally feel free to interrupt me at just about any time. I have this habit of talking until someone stops me. Never quits this brain of mine. Always going. Always something to say. I was just thinking about that episode where Homer goes into space and has to save them all by eating crisps. I'm pretty sure I gave Matt that idea but do you see my name in the credits anywhere? No! But that's alright. I've never been one for taking credit. I'm the Doctor by the way and I see you've already… "

Natalie finally stopped him when she realized he was seriously going to keep talking.

"Doctor who? And how did you get in here? And how did you get that Police Box in here? Where did you even get a Police Box?"

Now it was the Doctor's turn to stop Natalie.

"I can explain all that but first, when are we?"

"When, umm, sometime Wednesday afternoon?" Natalie answered in the form of a question, not knowing if the Doctor had been asking seriously.

"Yup, should have been the fuchsia button." The Doctor said to Jack. "I wanted to arrive sometime during Thursday. Preferably after the team had left the base."

"We're due to leave at any moment. The subs on it's way." She seemed to get over her shock rather quickly. "By the by, Jack, do you know what kind of craft they're using? It's incredible."

Jack put a hand behind his head and rubbed his hair. "Aha, you noticed it was different did you. It's how we got you down here. A bit of a trade off. Complete authority for a weeks loan on a Drichthyan spacecraft."

"Oh, Jack, you didn't. I knew I shouldn't have let you keep Torchwood." Unimpressed the Doctor wandered out into the hallway. Jack didn't even bother trying to justify himself.

While the Doctor poked around at a small computer terminal in the far wall Jack and Natalie talked.

"How did you two get down here? Is this another of Torchwood's tricks?"

"No, Natalie, this is far more complicated. I'll explain it later if you want but first, has anything happened since you got down here that I should know about?"

"Yes, in fact it's been very eventful."

Natalie told Jack in great detail about her close encounter with the creature the night before. She even told him about the disappearing shark. Leading him back to her berth across the pod she showed him the footage and the readings.

The Doctor stood behind her, his quick eyes reading more from the number than Natalie or Jack ever could. He cleared his throat and took Jack by the elbow steering him towards the TARDIS.

"Where are you going?" Natalie called after them

"Not to worry. Back in a mo." Said the Doctor as he went through the door.

The TARDIS disappeared and materialized and the Doctor stepped out alone, hands in his pockets, satisfied smile on his face. Seconds later Jack ran in from the other direction.

"Looks like you're staying, Natalie and we're your new crew."

--

Later, Natalie sat at the large desk in the lab feeling somewhat left out and very confused while the two men poured over the footage of the creature. Jack had explained that the Doctor had taken him slightly back in time and put him on the sub before it left after he gave orders for the alien sub to remain with the Americans and Natalie and himself to stay on the base. "Wait till they fine out that the Drichthyans don't believe in violence and don't keep weapons." All Natalie heard was 'back in time'.

And now they were sitting there talking about psychic energy and some kind of filter and Natalie was wondering why they had kept her around at all. She'd still had had no sleep and was getting irritated. Nearly an hour had gone by and neither of them had so much as glanced at her. Finally she stood up and announced she was going to bed. Jack nodded at her and the Doctor, whose name she still hadn't been told, said something in Spanish that she assumed was good night.

After she'd left the Doctor started pacing again, this time with out the flow of inane babble. Jack watched the creature over and over again. Natalie's description of her experience had both himself and the Doctor quite worried. There was no sign of the creature now nor of any other extraterrestrial life.

Jack jumped when the Doctor suddenly cried out.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Supposed I'd been avoiding this. Don't really want to have to but I think it's time we went for a walk."

"Where? Out there?" Jack could not believe the Doctor was suggesting that they actually leave the base.

"Yes and no and don't be such a wuss. We'll take the TARDIS. I'll land as close as I can to the point of disturbance and the TARDIS will automatically create a pocket for us to walk around in. We'll have about 2 meters on all sides to explore."

As they jogged through the damp halls the Doctor explained some things that he had left unexplained up till then.

"It's most definitely an alien but not entirely sentient. It can manipulate psychic energy too. But, there are about 3 billion species across the Universe that can do that to some degree. It's been there for ages and it's been pulling memories from my head. That's why I heard Rose in the TARDIS. It was trying to get my attention. I still can't explain yet why I didn't feel it in there but we're about to find out. I hope."

"Doctor, you really thought that I would do that to you? Make you think Rose was still here."

He stopped and turned to face Jack. Jack liked this new Doctor. Unlike his old self he was easy to read now and the sadness was so apparent on his face right now that it made Jack want to cry in longing for Rose.

"I'm sorry if I implied that I thought that of you, Jack. I know you miss her too and I know you wouldn't do that to me."

Jack nodded and put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder who promptly turned and walked away, ending the awkward conversation.

Inside the TARDIS things were simpler this time. The Doctor turned a dial slightly to the left, or west as he called it, reached under the console and then headed for the door.

"No engines?" Jack asked.

"Small hop, little power." How the Doctor could go from blabber mouth to near silence never ceased to amaze Jack.

The door of the TARDIS creaked open and they stepped out onto the sea floor. The air was slightly cooler and smelled strongly of brine. The ground was rocky and covered in a fine layer or silver sand. Everything was completely dry. Jack reached out to the wall of water around them and stuck his hand in only to pull it back quickly. It was bright red and completely crushed. He shook it a little and when he looked again it was back to normal.

"Sometimes I'm actually thankful for this little gift of mine."

The Doctor ignored him and Jack found him staring at a boulder beside the TARDIS. It was dark black, like volcanic glass, and covered in a spotty layer of sea ooze. It was roughly the same size as the TARDIS and was on a 45º angle, partially buried in the sand.

"Is this it? The disturbance? It certainly doesn't look like it belongs down here. Everything else it regular old basalt."

It took a moment for the Doctor to answer and when he did his voice was choked as if he was holding back tears.

"It's a TARDIS."


	21. Chapter 21

Honey awoke to the sound of voices. She couldn't open her eyes or move her limbs but her ears worked perfectly. She recognised the Professor but there was another voice, a female voice, in the room as well.

"Is there any change?" That was the Professor.

"Nothing. I think perhaps you gave her too high a dosage." The woman now.

"Impossible. She was weighed and assessed the night before. The amounts I applied should have been just enough to put her to sleep and induce a dream state."

"She _is _dreaming but her levels are nothing out of the ordinary. Is it possible that she mislead you?"

"No. I can sense I liar and that she is not."

The pair continued for sometime speaking in medical terms that were lost on Honey. _So, they think I'm still asleep and that I didn't dream of the Doctor,"_ she thought as she lay there silently.

Honey had in fact dream of the Doctor but the dreams had been repeats, in a way. She had watched the same adventures up to a point. In these new dreams everything had ended differently. In one Rose had not been able to look into the heart of the TARDIS and the Doctor had been forced to activate the Delta Wave, killing all the Daleks and himself as well. In another he had been unable to find his way through a maze on the impossible planet and had fallen into a black hole along with the body of the devil while its mind escaped.

All the dreams were horrific and ended with the Doctor's death. If Honey hadn't had such a clear memory of her past dreams of the Doctor she would easily have thought that something tragic had happened to him. But even if they were repeats they had still been as convincing as her other dreams. Honey was curious as to why their machines were not picking it up but was also glad that they couldn't.

She focused again on what was being said around her.

"How long has she been under, Hayden?"

"Nearly 5 hours now. More than enough time for the sedative to wear off and for her to enter a natural sleep state."

_So it's nearly midnight. No one will even start looking for me until tomorrow afternoon_, Honey realized. In the panic that washed over her she nearly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. If she did that who was to say that they wouldn't just drug her again and force her back into unconsciousness. As long as she feigned sleep and the machine continued to show her as dreaming, Honey was safe. All she could do was pray that someone found her before she stopped being able to keep it a secret that she was awake and could hear everything they were saying.

"I am going back to my office for a bit of a nap, Verity. Please alert me if there is any change in her status."

"Professor, how long are we going to keep her like this?"

"For as long as we have to. Eventually her distress will begin to cause nightmares and then we will hopefully have the information we need."

Honey heard the door open and close as the Professor left. _For as long as we have to. _The words rang in her head, echoing between her ears. A million thoughts ran about her mind as she tried to figure out just what the Professor was after that he couldn't just ask her for. Whatever it was she had to get out of here and soon. The drugs were beginning to wear off and with only the other woman in the room maybe Honey would be able to escape. She would never be able to overpower Professor Delano but another woman… . Honey was no weakling. There was every chance that she would be able to overcome a smaller woman or even someone her own size or bigger.

Hope began to grow in Honey's heart. As it grew so did the grogginess that often follows a drug induced stupor. Honey could tell that she was beginning to drift off. She knew she wouldn't sleep for long, not in the state she was in. She never slept long or well when she was worried. There was nothing she could do but let the waves of sleep wash over her.

Her breathing grew shallow and the warmth of pre-sleep spread across her skin. As she sank almost gratefully into a deep coma like state the last thought on her mind was _Doctor, help me. I need you._


	22. Chapter 22

Natalie turned in her bed and lay on her back with her eyes closed. She felt so good but she knew it was time to get up. The cat would be wanting food and her own stomach would be growling at her soon enough. Reaching her arms above her head she stretched luxuriously and let out a little shriek as her hands encountered cold metal.

Pulling her arms back under the sheets she opened her eyes. The room was dark but she could tell from what little glow came from the floor lights that she was still in the habitat. She'd had the most wonderful dream about being back in her own bed in her own room.

Natalie checked her wrist watch. Nearly 10 in the morning. She'd been asleep for almost 14 hours. As far as she knew Jack had not tried to wake her at any point and she assumed that he and his friend had found somewhere to sleep. Supposing she had better check on them she swung her feet over the edge of her bunk and starting pulling on clothes.

Munching on a granola bar she made her way to the lab where she had left Jack and the Doctor but the room was empty. She went back to her room to discover that the police box was gone from the storage locker and all of the other berths were empty. Natalie had a terrifying feeling that she had been left behind. She raced through the corridors and was breathless and on the edge of tears when she reached the observation deck.

The room was pitch black except for the blue light in the corner flashing rapidly. As her eyes adjusted to the dark Natalie could make out a shape against the large view port. Nervous and scared she took a step forward, fearing what she might face.

"Natalie, I thought you were going to sleep forever. Are you feeling better?"

Relief spread through her and she threw herself down on a couch, heart still pounding.

"Yes, thank you, Jack. I'm feeling much better. Where's the Doctor?"

Jack motioned for her to come stand with him and she pulled herself to her feet.

What she saw outside the window was the strangest thing she had ever seen. Stranger than the creature from two nights ago and even harder to believe than the fact the she had travelled to the sea floor in an alien space craft.

Out on the seabed, standing between a Police Call Box and a large boulder was the Doctor. No pressure suit, no oxygen mask, nothing save the clothes on his back. He was illuminated by a bright yellow light coming from inside the Police Box and was so still that he could have passed for a wax statue.

"Jack, how is he doing that? That's impossible."

Jack rolled his eyes at that phrase being repeated yet again. He put an arm around her shoulder and turned her away from the window and back towards the couch.

"You really should be seated for this. It's a lot to take in."

He sat her down and pulled up a chair to sit in front of her.

"I'm going to give you the much abbreviated version of this story. I could never even begin to explain everything anyway. The Doctor is a Time Lord. He's not human. He's from a planet called Gallifrey."

Natalie interrupted almost immediately.

"What do you mean not human? And why do you only call him the Doctor? What's his proper name?"

"He doesn't have a name. At least not one that I know. He calls himself the Doctor and so everyone else does as well. As for being not human, why do you think that little blue light over there is flashing? Because there's an alien outside the base."

Natalie nodded. Jack was making sense, assuming she even believed what he was telling her.

"So, the Doctor from Gallifrey." Jack continued. "Gallifrey was destroyed in the Time War. I won't go into detail about that. Suffice it to say that Gallifrey is gone and the Doctor is the very last of his kind. Nine hundred and 4 years old and doomed to spend eternity alone. Except maybe for me," Jack added with a sad look that only served to baffle Natalie further. "Now, next topic. That Police Box is a TARDIS; Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It's a spaceship and a time machine. I know it's small but it's bigger than it looks. The Doctor can try to explain that one.

"The boulder that he is staring at out there is also a TARDIS. TARDISs are linked to their Time Lord pilots. Without a pilot a TARDIS should just fade away. Something like that takes a very long time and this TARDIS should have fallen to dust centuries ago. The fact that it's still here and was, up until recently protected by a perception filter, implies that the Time Lord that goes with this TARDIS is still alive."

When Jack paused Natalie was staring at him as if his head was on backwards. Jack went on anyways.

"So far we haven't been able to explain what you saw or what happened to you. What you saw on that screen wasn't actually something that is visible, which is why the rest of the crew didn't pick it up. The camera I installed was designed to pick up energy as well as heat and the creature was made of almost pure psychic energy."

Natalie had a question at last and Jack was pleased to hear that it was the right one.

"Is the creature living inside this TARDIS? Could it be projecting itself outside the ship walls?"

"A good question. Yes, it can project itself _but _not without someone on the inside to allow the ship to send a signal. There is definitely more than just some_thing_ inside that ship."

Natalie stood and went to the window to look out at the Doctor. He had not moved and sand was starting to drift about his feet.

"What's he doing out there?"

"Waiting for the doors to open again. A TARDIS is the safest place in the Universe. You could survive the end of this Universe and the beginning of the next inside one of those. We very nearly did once. Needless to say, it's not just a matter of turning the handle and walking in."

"Has he tried knocking?"

Jack laughed. Such simple reasoning. So human. The Doctor would have loved it.

"He's tried everything he can to contact whoever is inside but they don't seem to be taking visitors at the moment."

"So he's just going to stand there and wait?"

"Forever if he has to. Wouldn't you?"

Natalie didn't answer. The reply was obviously yes. She could not even begin to imagine the Earth ceasing to exist never mind not being on it when it went. The pair stood in silence, watching the Doctor, lost in their own thoughts until a shrill alarm sounded from Natalie's computer.

"What is it, Jack?" The Doctor's voice came from a thick leather band around Jack wrist. He went over to the computer and tapped a few keys.

"It's emitting energy, Doctor. It's weak but it's there. What does your TARDIS say?"

There was static on the line for a moment and then a reply.

"Psychic energy for sure but no sign of the doors opening. Wait." The Doctor was silent. "It's opening, Jack. The doors are open. I'm going in."

Natalie could practically feel the electricity in the Doctor's voice. His enthusiasm was contagious and she couldn't help but smile broadly.

"Wait, Doctor. Let me come with you." But the Doctor was already gone. Natalie and Jack raced to the window just in time to see the Doctor step through an opening in the side of the boulder. His left foot, with its bright red All Star trainer, was the last thing they saw before the door swung shut and they were left behind.


	23. Chapter 23

Answering Jack did not even cross the Doctor's mind as he stepped through the door of the newly discovered TARDIS. This was his moment and he would not have allowed anyone, not even Rose were she still with him, to share it.

Crossing over that threshold was akin to stepping into another world. The space he entered was unlike any TARDIS he had ever seen. Instead of an open and spacious, and typically sci fi theme, that the Doctor usually chose, this TARDIS was filled with trees. Not just any trees though. These were the trees of the Doctor's home. The trees of Gallifrey.

Silver leaves flickered in a slight breeze that drifted lazily about the room and massive trunks spread out to all corners. The light that filtered down through the bright foliage was a pale orange, like the fading sky of a Gallifrey twilight. Even the smell, sweet and almost cloying, was that of these trees of the Doctor's lost home.

Reaching out he lay a reverent hand on the smooth, grey bark. This was where the illusion ended. The trunk was cold to the touch, like metal, although the texture was real enough. The trees were part of the TARDIS. Someone had designed the ship to look like Gallifrey, like home.

Continuing into the ship the Doctor found the centre console. It was disguised as a large fountain that he recognised as a replica from the main courtyard of the Academy where he had lived and learned as a child. The water no longer flowed but when he closed his eyes he could almost hear the tinkling droplets falling to the shallow pool below.

It was too much. The Doctor had to sit down. There was a stone bench at the base of a nearby tree and the Doctor sank to it with his head in his hands. How long had it been since he'd seen that fountain, gazed upon those glorious tree and smelled the scent of the forests he loved? Far too long, and sitting there, knowing that he never would again do any of those things, the Doctor almost gave up. Almost, but not quite. There was still a mystery to be solved.

He leaned back and looked up to the roof of the TARDIS and heaved a great a sigh. Looking around, trying to put the deep melancholy aside and find some clue as to where the occupant of this TARDIS had gone, he spotted something hanging from the ceiling beyond the fountain.

The TARDIS was clearly a newer model, capable of much more complex desktop themes and likely more reliable and easier to pilot. The Doctor's own TARDIS was a discontinued model that he had 'borrowed' from a TARDIS graveyard. Not only was it an old model, it was also a damaged specimen, but even in his younger days the Doctor wouldn't have dreamed of parting with his quirky vessel. It may not be as classy as this one but it had spunk.

Despite being a newer design, this machine still had a number of things in common with the Doctor's older ship. One of which was the Chameleon Arc, which in this TARDIS was now hanging in several pieces, with its antique fob watch still attached to the front.

The Doctor ran around the fountain and hurried to pry the watch loose from its socket. It too was cold but The Doctor could feel the faintest tingle coming from it. Some energy was still being emitted. A Time Lord's existence, in some part, was still contained within.

Not daring to draw a breath, for fear he might break the spell, he thumbed the button on the edge and the watch flipped open. What was revealed within was not a clock face. Nor was it the swirls and eddies of fiery light the watch should contain had it been used to store a life. Instead it was a pile of shimmering gold and copper dust. The glow was still there but it was so faint that the Doctor doubted the Time Lord turned human was still alive anywhere. He poured the grains of spent life into his hand where they warmed and soon were almost too hot to touch.

"Maybe you are out there. Wouldn't that be just peachy," whispered the Doctor with a faint smile and a heart so heavy it was almost unbearable.

_At last you have come. _

The Doctor spun around searching for the source of the voice but there was no one there. Then he realized there had been no sound. The voice was in his head. The psychic creature was here, was speaking to him.

_I'm here. Who are you? _He asked in his mind, though he was not sure he'd gotten the message right. He was out of practice at communicating this way.

_Long have I waited for another to come. When I knew you were the last I feared no one would ever find us and it is almost too late. _The voice in his head was like the sweetest music, soothing and gentle, and so familiar.

_Show yourself. I can help. Whatever is wrong._

From above him there was a rustle in the artificial leaves and out of the orange glow there appeared yet another ghost of the Doctor's past. A bird the size of a eagle descended from the tree tops to settle on the top of the fountain. It was a deep, radiant crimson with tail feathers so long they brushed the ground. Its head, at the end of a long and slender neck, was crowned with a crest of yellow, brighter even than the Doctor's banana umbrella.

"You're one of the Scarlet Swans." Said the Doctor in breathless wonderment. The Scarlet Swans were one of the more famous species of Gallifrey. They had lived high in the mountains of Solace and Solitude and like the Time Lords were capable of regeneration and had great psychic ability. Many Time Lords had had Scarlet Swans as companions and travelled with them for centuries.

_I am the last of the Scarlet Swans. My kin are all perished and I am alone but you need not suffer the same fate. _

Could the Chameleon Arc have worked, broken as it was? Was there another Time Lord somewhere inside this TARDIS? The voice that he had heard calling out in his mind, was it one of his own, trapped and injured?

_Where is the Time Lord that travelled in this TARDIS? _The Doctor had a thousand questions but he could sense the Swan's deep weariness and did not want to pressure the magnificent and sad creature.

_My Time Lord mistress and friend is no more. She was pursued and crashed here on Earth many hundreds of years ago. Before she left me forever she made a recording. I have given you access to her TARDIS so that you may view it._

The bird then folded its neck back and tucked its head under a wing. Its need for constant rest was evident. The Doctor chose not to disturb it again and proceeded to study the console before him.

The controls were unusual and cleverly disguised among images of Time Lords in full regalia and vistas of mountains and great forests. Very few of the controls were still active and soon the Doctor was able to find the recording the Swan had spoken of.

Out of thin air there shimmered into existence a young Time Lord woman. Her hair was golden and fell almost to her waist. Her eyes, which seemed to move and find the Doctor where he stood, several feet away, were a dark, emerald green. She looked vaguely familiar but the Doctor could not place her and supposed that, all things considered, any Time Lord would look familiar to him now.

When she spoke her voice was sad and resigned.

"_I am leaving this message in the hopes that one day someone will find my TARDIS and have the skill to aid me. I know not the outcome of the great Time War. When I crashed here it was at its peak. I pray that we won. I was chased through space and time by a rogue Dalek. It was hell bent on catching me and though I shot it down it caused severe damage to my ship and continued to hunt me even after it was crippled fatally itself. _

"_My ship was too damaged to fly when I and the Dalek fell. The monster had a lock on my DNA signature and though I was still able to activate my perception filter I was in great danger. I was forced to use the Chameleon Arc. I was sure that the Dalek would expire quickly and I could renew myself with the help of my dear friend, the Scarlet Swan, Serinae. But I was wrong. _

"_The Dalek's fix on me was stronger than I anticipated. When I put the Arc on one blow was enough to cause the device to short circuit and leave me stranded, half Time Lord, half human. The Dalek retreated to land and I was left, a human Time Lord. _

"_I tried to undo the damage but it was irreparable. I was stuck at the bottom of the ocean and human. Though unable to travel my TARDIS afforded me one escape. I was able to create a portal. Through the void and into the neighbouring reality I could escape. _

"_And now I am about to attempt to open that portal. It can only be opened once. Serinae will maintain the opening from within the TARDIS and await our salvation while I leave and attempt to live. I can't stay within my ship forever. I am human now and must live a human life. If you should find me perhaps my true self can be restored. I can only hope."_

The image disappeared. In that short story so much had been explained to the Doctor. Why he hadn't been able to detect the other TARDIS. Why the swan had appeared as it did to Natalie. Yet there still remained too many questions unanswered.

He reached out to the Swan, Serinae, and gently stroked her glossy feathers.

"You poor, beautiful creature. I've never understood true loneliness until now."

The bird awoke and ruffled its feathers as if it was cold and trying to warm itself.

_Doctor, it is too late for me. My home is gone, I have no mate and I am tired. I want nothing more than to close my eyes in the sleep of ages. I have reached my goal in bringing you here and I can live out the rest of my days in peace, imagining that these tree hold the branches I roosted in as a youngling. But I shall remain as long as you need me, in hopes that you might restore my mistress._

The Doctor was too agitated to continue communicating with his mind alone. His voice sounded loud and harsh in the silence of the TARDIS though he raised it to no more than a whisper.

"The voice I have heard, twice now, you were projecting it. Was that her? Is she still alive?"

_No. My mistress, who called herself the Gardener, is long since dead. She was a gentle and kind woman and was ill suited for the devastation of the Time War. Her last gift to me was this forest. She grew the trees from metal and drops of her own blood. _

_Nearly 200 years have passed in the world she entered. The voice you heard was that of her descendant, her last remaining scion and the first since her death to be able to hear my call. For the last 3 years, since you stopped the Slitheen female from opening the rift, I have been able to project your own memories and feelings to her. Only recently have I been able to project hers to you."_

The Doctor remembered the incident in Cardiff and stored the information away for later. For now he let the Swan continue telling its story.

_I can take you to her but before I do you must return to your companions. See them to safety and I will bring you to the girl. I have kept the portal strong all these long years and I can wait a while longer if I must. Return when you are ready and I will show you the way._


	24. Chapter 24

Three hours after the Doctor stepped inside the newly found TARDIS, Jack and Natalie were still in the observation room. They were taking turns standing and watching the sea floor outside. Jack was at the window while Natalie fixed them.

"How long is he going to leave us here? Does he realize that we have no way out?" Natalie asked as she handed Jack a steaming mug.

"He's not going to leave us here. The Doctor would never do that. He'll be back. Trust me." Jack sounded so sure Natalie couldn't help but believe him. She settled onto the couch with her coffee and pulled a blanket over her knees.

"So how did you meet him anyway?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Oh, I don't know. I think I've done pretty well so far. I doubt it would shock me any more than finding out that he's an alien." Natalie still wasn't sure she even believed that but she was getting uncomfortable, trapped in this small space with the Captain, and was willing to hear more even if it was all make believe.

Jack shrugged. "Alright then. What harm could it do? I met the Doctor in London during World War II. I tried to trick him into buying something and learned the hard way that the Doctor can't be fooled. At least not very easily."

"You're being serious, aren't you?" Natalie asked.

"Told you you wouldn't believe me." Jack grinned at her. Her heart fluttered.

"It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just having a hard time taking all of this in." And that was an understatement. Natalie had almost stopped thinking, it was all so hard to take it. Like trying to imaging infinity or figure out the meaning of life. "So is that where you're really from then? The 1940's?"

Jake turned away from the window to look at her.

"Hah. No. Where I'm actually from is even harder to believe. Let's just say that the Doctor isn't the only that can travel in time." When he turned back around the Doctor's TARDIS was gone.

"Jacky, my boy, I believe we've been over this. What you did was _not _time travel." The Doctor strolled up from the room below with his hands in his pants pockets. He was smiling and seemed significantly more light hearted than when they had last seen him.

"I have got to get me one of those." Natalie quipped as the Doctor plunked himself down on the couch beside her.

"What? A TARDIS? Naw. Humans shouldn't time travel without supervision. You'd end up like Jack." Said the Doctor with a sly smiled. No one knew better than the Doctor Jack's taste in women, men, and others.

"Ok, enough chit chat. What did you find Doctor? Was there another Time Lord in there?" Jack was anxious and poised on the edge of his set across from the Doctor.

"There was no Time Lord. At least not anymore. She called herself the Gardener and no, I didn't know her. She crash landed during the Time War after shooting down a Dalek. The same Dalek the Rose and I found at Crediton Vale I'll bet. Long story short she was stranded, used the Chameleon Arc to hide, which was damaged in the process and she was half turned into a human."

Jack sat back in his chair. "There's something you're leaving out."

"Oh alright. Takes a fool to fool a fool and I'm no fool. Funny word, fool. Such a kind way of telling someone their duller than a day in Dorset. And yet the King's Fool is sharper than a bag of bee stings. Funny how that works. Silly word."

Jack was used to the Doctor's ramblings and wasn't put off course but this wandering diatribe.

"If you're not going to tell us the rest at least tell Natalie what it was that she saw."

Natalie nodded vigorously.

"Technically Natalie didn't see anything. Yes, the camera picked up and translated psychic energy into an image but not of what was creating the energy." The Doctor suddenly became serious. "What happened to Natalie was caused by her inability to interpret that energy into something she could understand. The creature inside the TARDIS was trying to communicate with her because he sensed her connection to you, Jack and through him a connection to me."

Natalie was not satisfied. "But what is this creature. We keep calling it that bit doesn't it have a name? You seem to know what it is."

"It's called a Scarlet Swan."

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief. "A Scarlet Swan! But they're all gone. How did it survive in that TARDIS for all these years?"

As the Doctor described the Scarlet Swan's and their abilities he didn't look at the other but instead across the room. His eyes lost focus and Jack could tell that he was looking back in time and remembering his home.

When he finished there was silence for a long moment until he finally spoke again.

"So!" He cried, clapping his hands and making the other two jump. "It's back into the TARDIS, back to Torchwood or where ever and off I go."

"But Doctor, there's got to be more to it than that. Why didn't you or your TARDIS ever pick up that one? You've always told me that you would be able to sense another Time Lord around."

"Because it's dead, Jack. The Gardener's TARDIS died a long time ago along with her. Dead things don't send signals." With that he turned and went down the stairs. Jack and Natalie followed, feeling that it was all a little bit anticlimactic.

When the reached the storage locker that held the TARDIS the Doctor was waiting inside. Jack went in ahead of Natalie who simply stood at the door staring, mouth agape. Cautiously she stepped through and turned in a circle. Unlike most guests of the Doctor's TARDIS she didn't run back outside and walk around the outside repeating the word 'how' over and over again. Instead she said on the inside going round and round and saying 'how'.

"I told you it's bigger than it looks." Jack called from his place beside at the centre console.

"Yeah, I know." Said Natalie, head still tilted up taking in all the space. "But I didn't really believe you."

The engines began to whirr to life and Natalie made her way up the ramp, holding tight to the hand rails.

"I'd hold onto something if I were you." The Doctor recommended. "Sometimes the short trips are the bumpiest."

He wasn't joking, Natalie thought as she was suddenly thrown to the side and shaken about until she thought her teeth would come loose. Then it all stopped and her world was level again, for the most part.

"This is where you folks get off. I'd love to stay and chat but you know how it is, places to be, people to see and all that jibber jabber." He wasn't looking at them as he said this but toying with his sonic screwdriver and a strange lump of metal he'd picked up off the floor.

Natalie made to hold out a hand to shake but seemed to think better of it and ran a hand through her hair instead.

"I guess this is goodbye then Doctor. It was lovely to have met you."

The Doctor looked up from his gadget and gave Natalie a brilliant smile that she was glad to see reached his eyes. "And you, Natalie Brown! Oh, and try not to worry too much about your alien encounter. A psychic bombardment like that rarely has any side effects. Though… if you do develop a twitch… ."

"A what?" Natalie said in a worried voice.

"Don't worry. He's joking." Soothed Jack as he guided her towards the door. "You'd so better be joking." He mouthed over his shoulder as they walked away.

At the door he told Natalie to make herself a cup of tea and then wait for him. She gave a last wave to the Doctor and stepped outside. Jack turned to face the Doctor.

"I know you better than this, Doctor. There's more."

"Of course there is but for the first time ever I didn't want to bring someone new into this story, as lovely as she was. Oh by the way, I brought us a few hours forward. It's almost Friday morning. Better explain that to her before you send her on her way." He sat back unto his bench and put his feet up. Jack came around and leaned on the console.

"There's a portal to another universe through that TARDIS. That's where the Gardener went. She was a human with a Time Lord's mind and memories. On the other side she had a family and right now her last remaining descendant has made a connection to this universe. Serinae wants me to go through and find this girl and bring her back. She thinks that I'll be able to turn her back into a Time Lord."

"Is that possible?" Asked Jack.

"I really don't know. But I suppose anything is possible. After all this Scarlet Swan has been in my mind, recording and sending my memories off to this other universe for nearly three years now and somehow I didn't notice."

"I guess you just get used to it after a while. I mean, the TARDIS is in your head, translating things all the time. But if the swan could do that why didn't she just ask you to come?"

"I think she's too weak. It's one thing to act as a conduit for energy already being emitted but to send a message, it would have been too much. I think she may have tried once and that turned into me hearing voices I'd already heard before. Sally, Elton, Rose."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I think I am going to close the portal. It seems stable enough and is certainly well hidden but I think it leads to more than another universe. False hope, disappointment, loss. It's better if I just close it."

"And what about Serinae?"

"Oh, I'll find her a planet somewhere where she can live out the rest of her days in peace. Maybe I'll even stay with her until the end. I'd like to have someone to look after." Jack remembered how the Doctor had said he was going to look after the Master, take care of him. He knew how much the Doctor needed a family. Jack just nodded.

"Doctor."

Jack looked around. Where had that voice come from?

"Did you hear that?" But the Doctor wasn't listening, not to Jack anyway.

"Doctor, help me. I need you." The voice was filled with fear and longing. This was the strongest the voice had been yet. It could be because he was inside the TARDIS which acted as an amplifier or, it could be because the girl was in danger and adrenaline was jacking up the signal. The Doctor and Jack looked at each other.

"Was that her? From the other side?" Jack asked.

"That was her. And I think I'm going through the portal after all."


	25. Chapter 25

A damsel in distress and the Doctor couldn't help but answer her call. Though, Jack thought, the Doctor would have gone no matter who called but it did seem to always be a damsel.

"Doctor, I'm going to argue with you on this one. I think you were right when you decided to close the portal. Remember what happened last time people started jumping back and forth between realities?"

Daleks and Cybermen had flooded the earth causing mass destruction and devastation. That's when the Doctor had lost Rose. He'd closed the bridge and everything that had passed between the worlds was sucked back through and into the Void. Rose had been rescued by her father just in time but the bridge had sealed effectively cutting her off from the Doctor forever.

"You're not thinking it could be Rose's universe are you? Is that why you're going? Were you looking for any reason to justify it?" The Doctor was calm as anything and that just made Jack more annoyed.

"It's not Rose's world, Jack. I already know that. That's not why I'm going. I've already analyzed the portal. It's completely safe. Made the way their supposed to be made. When the Time Lords were still around and looking after everything it used to be the simplest thing to just hop around from one universe to the next. The portal literally forms a tunnel through the Void."

Jack had managed to bring the Doctor out of the TARDIS, no small feat, but he was still circling the desk in Torchwood's meeting room like a caged animal.

"Doctor, you're always asking me to trust you and I always have but this time I can't. I just can't. You're willing to chance the universe for this?"

The Doctor abruptly stopped his pacing and slammed his hands down on the table in a very undoctor like movement.

"What would you do, Jack? If everyone you knew and loved was gone and you had the chance to maybe, just maybe bring one of them back, what would you do?"

Jack said nothing and the Doctor lifted his hands from the desk and ran them through his hair, massaging the back of his head with his fingers. He calmed quickly, the passionate squall blowing past as quickly as it had sprung up.

"Jack, you've always trusted me and I appreciate that and the concern but on this it's not just a matter of trust. I need you to know that I am right. I'm the only person left in the universe that can truly know that portal is safe and I need you're word that you wont try to stop me."

Jack came around the table and put his hands on the Doctor's shoulders.

"You've never lead me astray. I'd say I'd trust you with my life but death's not an issue for me." Jack half smiled as he said this and the Doctor gave a deep nod.

"Thank you, Jack."

"But, there's one condition here." Jack put in before the Doctor could leave the room. "You're not doing this alone. I'm going to monitor things from your TARDIS and my team is going to keep an eye on thing from up here."

"Fair enough." The Doctor sounded like his regular self, if a little strained. "And what about our friend Ms. Brown."

He jerked his head towards the computer bank outside. Natalie was on the couch flipping through a magazine, looking bored. She'd already explored as much as the outfit as Jack would allow and was wondering when she'd be allowed to leave. Jack realized that he'd forgotten about her.

"You know, Doc. I was thinking I might offer her a job. She's clever and has taken all this very well. What do you think?"

"I think you should never call me Doc again. Otherwise, sure, why not? Like Torchwood doesn't cause enough trouble already. Add another silly human."

Jack didn't bother answering. He knew the Doctor was secretly impressed with how the new Torchwood worked. He'd just never admit it to Jack.

"I'll call up my team and then we'll get this show on the road."

--

An hour later they were all assembled in the meeting room with the Doctor at the head of the table. Natalie had offered to stay and lend her expertise to the team while they monitored the portal. Nothing in the ocean was likely to effect either TARDIS but the Doctor liked enthusiasm and never turned down help.

Jack had agreed to keep the Doctor's true mission private and told the team that they were merely continuing to study the anomaly. Natalie had caught on quickly and kept her mouth closed when asked by Gwen what had been down there.

Now the Doctor was addressing the whole group.

"I'm sure you're all very glad to be here in the wee hours of the morn. You can blame your brave and tireless Captain for that. Jack and I are going to be doing some more… close up research down in the depths and we need you gang up here to watch all the pretty computer screens."

"Don't talk to us like we're idiots." Owen seemed to dislike the Doctor from the get go. Perhaps because he had a problem with authority in general. " We're not stupid and we know that we wouldn't have been called off our other cases if there wasn't some level of danger in what you two are playing at."

"What Owen means to say," Gwen interrupted before Jack could reprimand Owen. "Though he is a bit of an arse when he doesn't get enough sleep, is that we would like to know what we're going to be handling here. We have to know how to properly respond if something should go wrong."

Jack and the Doctor glanced at each other and the Doctor nodded slightly. Jack stepped forward. Jack knew how far to go and wouldn't mention the Gardener.

"The reason we have left you some what in the dark is because to fully explain the subject we'd need more time than we have. I'll give you a break down but beyond that I wont be able to go into significant detail." He sat down and the Doctor went to lean against the glass wall. "We found another TARDIS down there and through it there is a gateway to another universe. The Doctor is going through that gateway. I'm going to be on the sea floor in his TARDIS to close the portal if I need to. But I wont be able to watch everything and so I need your eyes too."

Owen didn't seem convinced.

"How do we know that this is safe? What if we end up with another Abaddon on our hands?"

This time the Doctor provided the answer.

"I promise you that no such monstrosity will come through that portal. For one thing it's coded to Time Lord DNA only, and secondly, I'm not even sure that it works from the other side."

This was something he hadn't told Jack and now the Captain was as shell shocked as the rest of the team.

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"So!" The Doctor said loudly, ignoring Jack. "Who's ready to watch little lines and numbers and tiny flashing lights?"

From his pocket he tossed a little gadget that was shaped like an ancient cell phone from the 80's at Tosh.

"Keep that on and you'll be able to talk to Jack in the TARDIS. Anymore questions? Good!" Before they could ask anything he was off like a shot towards the TARDIS.

Jack bid his team a farewell and followed. Once inside, he confronted the Doctor.

"Are you serious that it might not be a two way street? That you may not come back?"

Jack was tossed around as the ship launched and then settled back down. The Doctor made for the door and Jack wondered if he was going to answer him at all. Just before he stepped outside he turned and looked at Jack.

" I really don't know what's going to happen in there. Whatever happens, Jack, I'm leaving you responsible for this Universe. If things start to go wrong, close the portal. The TARDIS knows how and I've programmed it to take you back to safety. Don't worry about me."

Jack was lost for words and the Doctor couldn't wait. He turned and walked out of Jack's life, again.


	26. Chapter 26

Honey drifted blissfully on a shimmering lake of clear turquoise waters. Her raft was made of the sweetest smelling cedar wood and draped in the softest velvet she'd ever felt. Behind her there fell from the highest cliffs a waterfall that lit up in the sun like a thousand crystals. The sun beat down on her, hot and bright, while the wind played flirtatiously with her loose and flowing hair. The endless expanses of grass around the lake were dotted here and there with tall and graceful trees. Birdcalls echoed from their lofty heights, somehow not drowned out by the crashing falls.

Honey closed her eyes and soaked it all in. She knew it wasn't real but it was far better than reality at the moment. She decided she would stay in this virtual realm of her mind until help came or the professor gave up his search. Honey was so lost in her reverie of this fantastical dreamscape that she almost didn't notice when thunder began to rumbled in the distance. Not until dark, threatening clouds billowed in front of the sun did Honey open her eyes and sit up.

The wind was howling across the plains, flattening the grass. The lightening was fierce, the thunder terrible and the rain falling in sheets, all of it heading quickly towards her. There was a voice on the wind that keened and pitched.

"He is coming!" It cried and it was like music to Honey's ears. She grinned and let out a wild whoop of excitement.

"The Oncoming Storm." She said softly as the wind and rain engulfed her and she was thrown into the water and fell gently back into her bed.

The first thing Honey thought when she awoke was not 'Help is on the way' or 'What an amazing dream', it was 'Holy mother of Zeus, do I have to pee'. She tried to sit up and discovered that she had been tied to the bed by her wrists and ankles. Luckily she was still able to cross her legs and she did, trying desperately not to think about swimming pools, water fountains and melting ice.

The professor's counterpart, Verity, Honey thought her name was, was asleep in a chair beside the bed. Honey considered trying to wake her to request a bathroom break but so far the need to pee did not surmount the desire to avoid speaking with anyone in the building.

The next thing that Honey thought was 'My stomach is consuming it's self. I could eat a house'. Honey always said house because the idea of eating a horse had horrified her when she was young.

Looking around the room for something to distract her from her various bodily needs, Honey finally got a look at the computers that she was attached to. The whole system filled the wall beside the bed where Verity sat sleeping. Honey was sure what she was looking at was a complex map of her brain pictured on three different screens. One was a series of reds, oranges and yellows. Honey guessed that this was a heat sensor of some kind. The next was a mixture of blues and greens that didn't match the screen before it at all. The colours seemed to begin at her temples and fade as they reached the middle of her head.

The last screen was the most interesting. It was a collage of all sorts of colours thought they seemed to blend together and shift rapidly. As Honey watched she was able to make out images in the swirl of colours. Trees around a lake, a waterfall. It was her dream!

Somehow, whatever she was hooked up to was taking her brain waves and translating them into actual images. Honey had never heard of such technology but she guessed immediately what the Professor was using it for and she realised that she'd made a huge mistake telling him about the Doctor. Something in her dreams of him was of value to Hayden Delano.

As she processed this information she heard footsteps in the hall and quickly threw her head back onto the pillow and feigned sleep as best she could. She heard Verity jump as the door opened and reach for something, anything, to hold in order to look like she had been busy.

"I see you've been taking a nap with our patient, Verity." The professor said in a dull tone. "How ironic."

"I'm so sorry, Hayden." She scrambled. "It's just so easy to fall asleep in a room that in designed to induce sleep. You understand, surely."

"Of course." Honey could sense the menace in his voice and guessed that this was a man with little tolerance for mistakes.

She heard keys being tapped and then the professor exclaimed. "You fool! You slept through her dreams! Valuable information I could have used to pin point the source and you lost it! Who knows when she might dream again!"

Verity began to stammer out an apology but the Professor would hear none of it.

"Get out of my sight woman. Do not show your face again until I summon you, which may be a very long time from now."

There was a sob as Verity ran from the room. Honey was already using all of her will power to stop the urge to squirm, her need to pee was that strong. When the Professor leaned over her he was close enough that she could smell the tea on his breath and it made he nose want to twitch.

"And as for you, little woman… I know you can hear me. Know this. You are here until I get what I need from you. Forget home, forget sunlight, forget freedom, for they are lost to you."

Some how Honey managed to stay still. She didn't even flick an eyelid as he stared at her face. Eventually he stood and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Honey heard the lock click and waited until she heard his footsteps fade down the hallway before she opened her eyes again.

Before now Honey had harboured some hope that none of this was real. Perhaps she was just in an incredibly long and lifelike nightmare. Now she knew how real it all was. This man was not going to let her go. He wanted something from her but she knew not what. All she wanted was to leave this place and return to her quiet life of plants, books and dreams.

In her despair Honey forgot about her dream of the lake and the storm and was now drowning in fear and sorrow. Sleep eluded Honey and now even that escape was barred to her. All she could do was lie there and think of her one constant companion, the Doctor.


	27. Chapter 27

The Doctor popped into existence halfway between a lamp post and post box on a brightly lit street in a city he didn't recognise. Neon and flashing lights lit up the night while loud music pumped from bars and night clubs lining both sides of the streets. Men and women dressed in flashy, fashionable clothes wandered around talking and laughing loudly.

The first thing the Doctor noticed was that no one spoke with an English accent so he was definitely in unfamiliar territory. He was glad that he'd spent enough time around Earth and humans to be able to understand most major languages with out the aid of his TARDIS. A few people glanced at him and giggled a little before continuing on their way. Unfortunately his snappy suit and long brown coat didn't fit in in every setting.

He stopped a passing woman and asked where he was.

"Lundy's Lane." She answered.

"And where exactly is that? Feel free to be as exact as possible."

She looked at him like he had just barked at her. "How can you not know where you are?"

"I'm very forgetful. I could walk into a restaurant and forget why." He smiled at her convincingly.

"Niagara Falls. Ontario."

"Oh, Canada! That's great! I haven't been here in ages!" He nodded at the girl who stared at him, dumbfounded. "Much obliged."

He wandered on down the street wondering where he was supposed to be. Serinae had said she could manipulate to portal so it would place the Doctor as close as possible to the Gardeners descendant. Within one kilometre or so she said. The trouble was that could be in any direction and in the centre of a large, busy city that could cover a lot of ground. The Doctor figured he'd go down the hill. That way at least something would be on his side. Gravity.

Just before he reached the bottom of the incline he, on a sudden whim, decided to go left into a small side street. It was hemmed in on both sides by tall hotels, clubs and museums. It made a few twists and turns, gradually moving away from the busy bustle of downtown, before ending in a secluded cul-de-sac. There were several low, modern looking buildings clustered together at the end. There were no lights on and no cars in the small parking lot.

As the Doctor approached the first building he began to feel a tingling sensation behind his ears. He stopped, stretched his jaw and shook his head.

"I've _got_ to put up a no trespassing sign."

Before he could go any farther a door opened at the front of one of the buildings. The Doctor nipped behind a nearby tree and peaked back around the trunk in time to see a slim, middle aged woman hurry down the street. She had tears in her eyes and wasn't watching where she was going. Her heel caught in a crack in the side walk and she stumbled, dropping and spilling the contents of her purse.

The Doctor couldn't just stand by and watch while the woman gathered up the belongings and he stepped out to lend a hand.

"Everything alright?" He asked as he bent down to pick up a comb and a pile of papers that had strewn across the pavement. Reaching in his pocket he pulled out a green and white checked handkerchief and held it out to her. As always the people the Doctor encountered inherently trusted him and the woman took the hankie and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Yes, I'll be fine thank you. Just had a bit of a fight with a… friend."

The Doctor could hear the dishonesty in her voice but could also tell that it wasn't completely untrue. She'd had a row to be sure but whether it had been with a friend was yet to be decided. This being the first distraught female he encountered he wondered if this was who he'd come to aid.

"Are you sure now? Anything I could do to help?" The Doctor asked.

The woman shook her head in reply. Looking in her eyes the Doctor could see that this woman was of little importance. At least to his mission that was. She did not contain an ounce of psychic ability. But maybe she knew of someone that did.

Glancing down at the remainder of the items on the ground the Doctor spotted a small white card with a strange symbol on it. He picked it up and his face hardened for a moment. Seeing the card in his hand the woman snatched it away.

"Thank you for your help but I think I can manage." She hastily scooped everything up and stuffed it back in her purse. The Doctor knew that he wouldn't likely be gaining any more information from the woman and he didn't say anything else as the woman hurried away down the street. Turning on his heel he headed straight for the building she had come out of moments before.

At the door he peaked in a tall, narrow window beside the entrance. Inside he saw a large atrium filled with plants and a few large plush couches. There was a reception desk with a security light shining on it from above. The place appeared deserted not only for the night but for good. No signage of any sort stood out to identify who occupied the building. There were no magazines with the couches or paper, or even a computer, at the desk. A perfect place to hide away.

"This looks promising. Why do criminals always think that minimalist is the best way to seem innocent. It just screams out 'Where is everyone'."

A quick zap with the sonic screw driver and the Doctor slipped through the door, closing it silently behind him.

There was only one door out of the atrium and the Doctor headed for it. He found himself in a long hallway lined with doors. Peaking behind several of them he found nothing but empty rooms. Towards the end he came upon a pair of large wooden doors. Warm, yellow light showed from beneath them. He could hear the sound of pacing from behind them and decided this was not the door he sought.

"To cozy to be a prison. Let's try door number," He looked behind him and counted the exits leading off the corridor. "Thirteen! Door number thirteen." He grimaced.

Behind number thirteen was a stairway going up several steps and ending with a landing and a door. Taking the steps two at the time and counting as he went the Doctor brought himself to the landing.

"Thirteen steps too. This place is weird. Humans and their silly modern buildings. Let's have thirteen of everything and some artsy fartsy yuppie type will think it's perfect for their dark and twisty modern mind and pay and arm and a leg and half their body to rent. Recreational mathematics gone wrong."

Opening the door he found himself looking down another long hall. It too was lined with thirteen doors.

"Innie meenie miney mo." He muttered and picked the ninth door down at random. This one took a little longer for the sonic screwdriver to unlock. It had a magnetic lock as well as a conventional one. The room inside was dimly lit by several computer screens and in their light the Doctor could see a small metal framed bed in the centre of the room. On the bed was a young woman lying with her head to the side, eyes closed.

"Oh, I'm good. There goes that big nose comin' in handy. Or is it nosey? Why isn't footy a word?"

The woman's eye snapped open and the Doctor jumped. Eyes doing surprising things always unnerved him.

"Doctor?"

This had to be her. No one else here would know to call him Doctor.

"That's me. And you must be?" He replied wondering why she didn't sit up. She ignored the question.

"I don't care if this is a dream or not just get me off this bed!" She flailed her arm around and the Doctor could see a padded leather bond, like those used in asylums, around her wrist under the blanket. He rush to her side and hastily undid the clips binding her arms. She sat up quickly and practically tore the straps from her ankles. With out a word she was off the bed and through the only other door in the tiny room. Minutes later a toilet flushed, a tap flowed and the door opened.

"You brought me all the way across two universes because you had to pee?" He asked her.

"Nature was hollering." She grinned at him before throwing herself into his arms and holding him tight. She was shorter than him and her dark, golden brown hair flew in his face. It smelled of rosemary and thyme with subtle earthy undertones. Finally she let go of him and stared up at his face, green eyes sparkling.

"You're real, aren't you? I mean you're actually standing here right in front of me. How is this possible?" The joy in her voice was unabashed and highly infectious.

"Oh you know, quick jaunt across time and space and few voids in the middle and voila! Doctor to the rescue. And I'm going to recommend blowing this popsicle stand before anyone misses you."

"Agreed." She answered and they went for the door.

Half way down the stairs the Doctor turned to her and said, "What's your name by the way?"

"Honey."

"Honey what?"

"You'll laugh."

"No, I won't. Scouts honour." He held up the first two fingers on his right hand. "You have scouts in Canada right? It's not just an American thing?"

"Yes, we have Scouts." Honey laughed. "But I'll tell you later because I still think you'll laugh and someone might hear you."

"Swift thinking there swifty." The Doctor winked at her and they continued down the stairs.

At the bottom the Doctor listened briefly at the door and then eased it open. The hall was still dark and all of the other doors still closed thought the light under the wooden doors was now out.

"Common then, Honey. All clear on the western front."

With Honey holding tightly to his hand, as if she feared he might slip away at any moment, the Doctor stepped into the hall. As they did the double doors swung open and two very large men in black suits stepped out, an older man standing behind them. The Doctor stopped like a deer in headlights.

"Ah, hello. Don't suppose you've brought the car round?" The Doctor asked in his best posh accent. They didn't respond. "Guess we'll just have to leg it then. Run!"

Honey didn't hesitate and kept up like a champ as they careened down the corridor, trainers squeaking and bare feet slapping. The two huge men were right behind them as they skidded out into the atrium and made for the door.

"Sonic screwdriver, quick!" She shouted as they neared the exit and the Doctor grinned at her.

"Oh, you've even got the lingo down you clever girl, you."

Reaching inside his coat he pulled out the sonic device just as the thugs rounded the corner. One of them had pulled a gun and Honey gave a little shriek. Then the door was open and they tumbled out into the cold night just as a shot was fired. Honey felt a sting in her shoulder but the adrenaline was running to strong for her to care.

A brief glow from the sonic to relock the door and they raced off down the dark street until they were out of sight of the building and finally slowed to a brisk trot. The Doctor was still half running when he looked back and saw that Honey had fallen behind. He watched as she stopped and bent down with her hands on her knees.

"Not again." He heard her mumble just before she fell to the grass beside the road and lay still. He rushed to her side and tapped her face sharply with his fingers.

"Honey! Honey, wake up. Don't quit on me now. I came a long way to get you out of there."

Then he saw the dart protruding from her shoulder and reached to pull it out. A dribble of blood oozed from the wound and dripped from the needles point as he rolled it between his fingers. With surprising strength he snapped the shaft in two and sniffed at the inside, dabbed a bit on his tongue and shuddered.

"Blech. Sedative with a dash of mind bender. Nasty. Should wear off soon." Thankful that it hadn't been a bullet he took off his coat, draped it over Honey and lifted her up in his arms. "Let's get you somewhere safe to sleep it off, shall we?"

Dart stowed safely in his pants pocket, unconscious girl in his arms and no TARDIS to retreat to, he set off down the street.


	28. Chapter 28

Professor Hayden Delano was furious. More furious than he had ever been before. A kind of fury that lay so deep that it presented as calm and collected, but his underlings knew that it was there. They sat in the soft leather chairs in his office as the Professor stood behind his desk sorting through papers. After what seemed like an eternity the older man sat down and folded his hands in his lap.

"I am extremely… disappointed." He said in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper. His two thugs leaned forward to hear him. "If you are not able to come up with something to redeem yourself then I'm afraid I am going to be very angry."

The goons looked at each other and the bulkier of the two spoke up.

"Do you remember that gun you gave us? The dart gun?"

The professor nodded slightly and continued to stare making his lackey even more nervous.

"Well, I was carrying the gun when the girl escaped. I got one shot off before they got out the door. I couldn't find the dart so I'm pretty sure that I hit her."

"This is indeed good news." The professor smiled at them and then began to laugh. Softly at first but it quickly turned into a deep throated and powerful laugh that filled the room. The toadies had always thought their boss was a little bit strange but this proved to them that he was well and truly unhinged.

The insane laughter gradually petered out to a soft chuckle accompanied by sinister gleam in his eyes. The younger men were feeling very uncomfortable by this point and when the professor suddenly ceased all noise and slammed a hand down on his desk they both jumped, one tipping out of his chair completely.

"You have managed to bring yourselves into a better light my boys. Inside that dart, not only was there a very powerful drug, there was also a microchip. It will have imbedded itself beneath her flesh and finding her will be a simple task, especially since her accomplice will now be forced to carry her."

The professor swung his chair around to the laptop on a small table behind his desk. He typed in several multi digit passwords and a map of the city of Niagara Falls appeared on the screen. Both of the men watching assumed that a small moving dot would appear somewhere on the screen to show precisely where the girl was hiding but they were disappointed. So was Professor Delano.

He cursed loudly and shoved a mug off the table to hear the satisfying crash as it shattered on his hardwood floor. Taking a deep breath to compose himself he turned back to his employees.

"Darius, Nathaniel. Through no fault of your own, I'm sure, the microchip has failed. Somehow, either the girl or the man that rescued her, managed to disable the device. However, the chip can still give me a signal range and I will require both of you to scour that area until you find her." His rose at the end of his speech until he was bellowing at both men.

Darius and Nathaniel immediately stood and made to leave the room. They were eager to be away, even if the alternative to being in this office was crawling about the dark, cold city searching for a woman that could be hiding anywhere.

"The information you require will be delivered to your PDAs presently. Do not come back until you have the girl." The professor called after them as they closed the doors behind themselves.

When they were gone and his office was silent again, Hayden once again reviewed the surveillance footage of the man and Honey leaving the building. The moment Honey's head had left the pillow and broken contact with the machines monitoring her an alarm had activated in the professors office. He had been ready for them as soon as they had left the room Honey had been held in. Had it not been for the incompetence and slow reaction time of his brutes for hire he would now have the girl, and possibly a Time Lord, in his possession.

The hall camera was placed on an angle to cover his office doors and the stairway and most people were only seen in profile. There was only a brief instant of the footage where the man's entire face was visible. When Darius had thrown open the office doors and flooded the corridor with light. It took the professor several tries but finally he managed to freeze a perfect image of the man on the screen and his suspicions were confirmed.

Not only was the man a Time Lord, they could always sense one another, but he was a special one. He was out of place, his aura slightly off kilter. He didn't belong here. And now, not only did the Professor have the information he needed but he had the key to making it all work.


	29. Chapter 29

Natalie sat beside Toshiko in front of the computer bank in Torchwood's base. Tosh was teaching her how to play Soduko, something Natalie had never been able to understand, not be very good with numbers. There had not been much to do other than every so often glance at the one screen dedicated to monitoring the portal. Gwen was taking her turn watching the steady stream of numbers and unchanging lines on the scale.

For the first eight hours or so they had taken Jack quite seriously and had been diligently watching several screens for any signs of shifts or cracks in the portal. The only change there had been was when the Doctor had gone through. Since then there had not been so much as a flicker of movement at all. Owen had gone home, Ianto was playing solitaire on his laptop and Gwen was playing with a piece of sting doing cat's cradle over and over.

"What news from above?" Jack voice came from the Doctor's blocky communicator lying on the desk beside Gwen. She picked it up, string still dangling from her thumb.

"Nothing, Jack. Nothing at all. How long are we going to keep this up?"

"Is that a serious question?" Jack said with a tone that said 'you know better'.

"No, Jack. Did the Doctor say how long he was going to be?"

"Yet another silly question, Gwen. But you're right, this getting somewhat tedious. Tell you what. Start taking shifts. I don't need all of you up there. Tell Owen he can go first. I know he was here late last night."

"Owen already left." Gwen said, lowering her voice. "He hasn't been himself in quite a while. It's like he doesn't want to be here anymore."

"I've noticed. Just give him a few hours and then give him a call. Make sure he comes back. In the mean time someone else can go home too, not Natalie, but make sure you all stay in touch in case there is a change."

Gwen thanked him and hung up the phone, communicator, thing. She turned to the others and told them what Jack had said.

"I really wouldn't mind a nap. If I can take the first off duty I'll make it short, three hours tops." Ianto said. Gwen and Tosh both said that was fine and he left, giving them his usual sad and somewhat distant smile.

When he was gone Gwen rolled her chair back towards the other two women, letting it spin and bump into their chairs.

"Your turn there, Natalie. I've had enough of that stupid blue screen with it's red squiggly lines. If the numbers go above 4465 or the line gets within about an inch of so of the white dashes then give us a shout."

Natalie left her Soduko puzzle and wheeled over to her place in front of the computer. Gwen picked up the puzzle where Natalie had left off. She and Tosh didn't talk very often. Gwen was very open and Tosh very secretive which didn't make it terribly easy for them to do much more than small talk and that was besides the standing issues between them.

"How's Rhys doing?" Tosh asked quietly.

"Oh, he's lovely. Getting used to me being here so much I think."

Even this gentle talk hit a sore spot. Not long ago Gwen had an affair with Owen. Though it had ended, and Gwen and Rhys were still together, that hadn't change Tosh's feelings of jealousy and betrayal as she had been infatuated with Owen for quite some time. Owen had kissed her once but other than that he never looked at her twice.

"Did you give him that recipe that I brought? I'd like to know how he managed his first go at Japanese cuisine." Tosh was trying.

"No, not yet. He wants to save that for some night when I'm actually there."

The silence sat uncomfortably between them and Gwen was relieved when Natalie called them to the computer.

"Might be a false alarm but I noticed this little bit down here and you didn't tell me what it's normal levels are so I'm not sure if it's supposed to be doing that." Natalie pointed to a small box in the bottom left corner. Inside it was a line that was zigzagging in the middle like the sound levels of an audio recording. She moved her chair out of the way as Tosh bent down to study the box.

"That's very strange." As she spoke the Doctor's device binged beside the keyboard and Jack's voice echoed from within.

"I've got some weird readings down here. The Doctor gives me more credits than I'm due sometimes cause I am a little lost down here. The TARDIS is pouring out information too fast for me to make out."

"Jack, it looks like someone is probing the portal. My best guess is that they are just looking for it because the activity is random and weak. I think someone is hoping to get through." She passed the device to Gwen as she continued to punch keys and bring up different graphs and charts.

"Jack, couldn't it just be the Doctor trying to come back?" Gwen asked.

"No. The Doctor knows what he's doing. He wouldn't try to come through unless he knew he was doing it right. Plus, the Scarlet Swan is watching for him. If he were there, she would let him through."

"So, who is it then?" Gwen asked.

Jack didn't answer the rhetorical question but a frightening thought passed through his mind. What if all of this had been an elaborate trap? Was he ready to close the portal if it was?


	30. Chapter 30

Honey awoke after what seemed like aeons to find herself in her own bedroom, tucked into her own bed, holding her own teddy bear. Sitting up and stretching she set the bear aside and reached to scratch an itch on her shoulder. Bending her arm awkwardly she fingered the spot and found a fresh, heavy scab begging to be picked at. As she absentmindedly pushed her nail under the crusted blood a man walked into her room carrying two cup of tea and a flood of memories of the past few days.

"Good morning to you, Honey Beatrix!" He said sitting down on the end of her large bed.

"How did you find out my last name?" Honey cried, incensed. "Better question still, how did you figure out where I live?"

"Excellent questions and the answer to each was found in a rubbish bin." Answered the Doctor with a smug, just-guess-what-I'm-talking-about look on his face. Honey didn't give in to his attempt at starting a guessing game and sat there resolutely.

Looking disappointed the Doctor continued, "You passed out in the middle of the street…"

"I remember falling down on the grass. Nice try." Honey countered.

"Ah, quite right. Anyway, I had to carry you, you're welcome, and as we passed by a little back alley way I heard a ringing coming from a big rubbish dumpster. I'm totally incapable of resisting such intriguing sounds so I went on a treasure hunt."

"Hold on a minute. Where was I while you were rummaging in the garbage?" Honey asked with not a little incredulity.

"On the ground." Replied the Doctor, totally oblivious to her disgust.

Honey looked down at herself and realized she was still dressed in the light clothing she had been wearing at the clinic turned prison, passed out on the grass in and laid on a dirty alley floor in. "Oh that is so gross. I need a shower."

"Where was I? Oh, yes, in the big bin. Seems your kidnappers were not the cleverest of fellows. They disposed of your belongings in a rubbish bin. Wallet, mobile, novel, hairbrush, the works. I mean, come on! Don't these people watch CSI?"He paused very briefly to draw a breath. "So, why wouldn't you tell me your last name? There's nothing wrong with it. Some of my favourite people were named Beatrix. Beatrix Potter, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Beatrix Lestrange, though her only because she's brilliantly written. Nothing wrong with the name Beatrix." He smiled at her and she could tell by the twinkle in his eye that he was deliberately avoiding the most common nickname she had ever heard and hated more than anything else; Honey B.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He said with a wink.

The Doctor leaned back on his elbows while Honey pulled up her legs to sit cross legged. The silence that sat between them was a comfortable one. He stared out the window beside her bed while she stared at him. Finally she asked, "What was I shot with last night?"

The Doctor sat up and reached into his shirt pocket. He pulled out the broken dart and handed it to her. It was long and silver with pink, feather like tufts at the end. Honey could see where the drugs had been stored in a syringe consealed within.

"They got me with these drugs the other night." She said. "Only then it took about 15 minutes from them to take affect. Why did they work so fast this time?"

"When was the last time you ate?"

Right on cue her stomach gave a fierce growl and her whole middle cinched tight.

"About a day." She answered remembering from somewhere that drugs act faster and more potently on an empty stomach.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a Mars bar and handed it to her. It was slightly squished but still looked delicious.

"This one's special. It's actually from Mars, sort of. I got it there about 150 years in the future on Mars. They had a secret stash of Earth candy."

She was already half way through it when she thought to ask how old even thought technically it hadn't even been made yet.

"Oh, I'd say about a month, 6 at most, maybe a year. Eat it. Like Professor Lupin says, chocolate is the cure for most things."

Honey shrugged and ate the rest of it and she did feel much better very quickly. When she was done she reached for a book on her nightstand and handed it to the Doctor. It was elegant and bound in red leather with golden etching around the edges and on the spine. Honey had picked it up at an antiques store and had held on to it for years waiting to find the right purpose for such an exquisite book.

"This is my dream journal. I wrote down everything about you and it will explain a lot. I have a million questions for you but at the moment my need to shower is stronger than my curiosity. This is still all a little unbelievable and I hope when I get out of the shower you'll still be here and I don't find myself to be in yet another dream."

The Doctor took the book and gave her a big, toothy smile. "I'll still be here. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be."

Minutes later she was in the shower with hot water washing away the filth of the past hours. Honey was in some sort of shock. Waking up to find the Doctor there seemed so natural that the excitment and joy of the night before seemed to have diminished. She smiled as she rubbed shampoo into her hair. This was too real to be a dream. The Doctor was really here.

When Honey got out of the shower feeling fresher and more awake. She dressed and left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. From the door of her bedroom she saw the Doctor still looking at her journal. He had just reached the pictures at the end. Every now and then Honey had one of the dreams, or an image from a dream, so stuck in here head that she couldn't concentrate on anything else. Writing it down didn't always help so she had started drawing pictures of what she saw.

He was absorbed in the book and seemed unaware of her standing there watching him. The first picture made him laugh. It was of him as he was before Satellite 5.

"I really did have big ears." He muttered, holding the sketch up closer to get a better look.

The next few images were mostly of various creatures the Doctor had encountered. There was a Sycorax, several Krillitanes and ever the Werewolf he had encountered in Scotland. He flipped past these drawing very quickly but he paused several pages in and ran a finger gently down the page.

It was one of Honey's best sketches. The one she had taken the most care at. It was of Rose Tyler giving her biggest, boldest grin. Honey knew how much the Doctor had loved Rose, and likely still did, and despite her own love from him, Honey never felt jealous of Rose. Rose and the Doctor had just been right

He turned several more pages until stopping again at an ink sketch of a watch. Honey knew that the watch was connected to something very important to the Doctor but she never knew what. It had appeared in a dream after the Doctor had been silent for quiet some time. She'd gone nearly 2 months without even a flash of him in a dream and then there was the watch.

Suddenly the Doctor turned around and saw her. Honey guessed that he'd likely known all along that she was standing there.

"These drawings are excellent."

"Thank you." She said sitting down beside him. "Are they real, these things that I saw in my dreams? Have you actually seen them?"

"Oh, yes. They were all very, very real." He had a sort of far away look as he flipped through several more pages containing the Face of Boe, Cybermen, the Ood, Daleks, Donna, and even a house, Wester Drumlins.

"Doctor, how has all this happened? Why do I know all about your life and you nothing of mine? You're obviously real so why haven't I ever seen a Dalek or a Cyberman, or even a UFO?"

The questions now began pouring out. Honey could hardly stop the flow. With the questions returned the joy. Even being kidnapped and hunted and shot at and whatever else was to come, would not kill this high.

The Doctor put a finger to his lips and shushed her.

"One question at a time. I may have snogged the Blarney Stone several times over but I can't fill in the blanks quite that quickly."

Honey took a deep breath and searched her mind for the most pertinent question. One that she had asked herself a thousand times.

"Why me?"

The Doctor didn't answer at first. He looked her in the eyes searchingly and finally gave her a half smile and said, " Haven't the foggiest."

Before Honey could come up with the second most important question, the Doctor's sonic screwdriver illuminated inside his suit jacket. He pulled it out studied it for a moment.

"I'm going to take this moment of silence from you to make an addition to my earlier answer to your question regarding what you were shot with. The dart didn't just have drugs in it. There was also a micro chip which is now imbedded in your shoulder. We've got, oh about…" He glanced at a wrist that didn't hold a watch and realized that fact and pretended to adjust his sleeve. "Roughly 10 minutes to get out of here before the cowboys arrive."

"What!? What do you mean cowboys?" Honey didn't follow as the Doctor jumped off the bed and headed to the door.

"Common then, shift!" He cried at her swinging his hands around to encourage her. She didn't move.

"Ok, one; I'm wearing pajamas. Two; I'm wearing a towel on my head. Three: I'm not wearing shoes OR socks. Five; I'm losing count. Numbers hurt my head. The point is I'm not running out into the cold street right this second. If we've got 10 minutes then at least let me get dressed."

"Alright." Replied the Doctor with a shrug, his energy and urgency gone, and he plunked down on the couch. As his rear hit the cushions there was a huge crash. He put his head between his knees and looked under the couch. Heavy footsteps echoed in the stairwell outside the apartment door.

"I did say roughly." The Doctor called out to Honey.

She ran from the room and headed for her living room window and the fire escape.

"You know for a _Time _Lord you sure have a terrible sense of time!"

The footsteps stopped outside Honey's door and there was another loud bang and the door shook in its frame. Shoeless and still wearing a towel on her head Honey started climbing out the window.


	31. Chapter 31

The door crashed open with a high pitched crack as the cheap wooden frame splintered. A picture fell from the wall and shattered sending tiny shards of glass flying across the tile floor. Darius and Nathanial barged in with guns drawn just in time to see the Doctor's coat tails disappear through the window. Without bothering to look out the window to see which way the escapees had gone the pair ran back out the front door and down the stairs. When their footsteps had receded the Doctor poked his head back in and looked around.

"Works every time."

Climbing in he reached back out to give Honey his hand to help her in. The towel had fallen from her head and her hair was in disarray. She grabbed a blanket from her couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. The April air had been chill.

"Are they really gone? They didn't even look out the window. Then again they are the same people that left my stuff in a dumpster. Hey, that reminds me! Who was calling my phone when you found it?"

"It was your mother." The Doctor gave a look that usually accompanied talking about anyone's mother. "She seemed very glad to hear a bloke answering. Didn't ask how you were only said that she was beginning to think you were a lesbian, which of course would have been just fine with her by the way."

"God, she is such a freak. Please ignore anything and everything she says." Honey rolled her eyes.

They then heard calls from the street below. The men had realized they had lost their prey. The Doctor told Honey he that though he thought the goons to be quite ridiculous they likely weren't stupid enough to leave completely without checking her apartment again. Honey gathered up a few items that she didn't want to see gone and they made their way down the hall to a small storage room where Honey and several other tenants kept their bicycles.

Sure enough, minutes later they heard the men come back upstairs. There was noise in her apartment for a few minutes more and then the pair was gone. Confident that they would not return to search the same place, at least not for a while, they returned to the rooms. Honey swept up the broken glass from her picture while the Doctor attempted to repair the door.

When Honey left the kitchen he was awkwardly holding a hinge pin in one hand, the top corner of the door in the other, supporting a bottom corner with his foot and trying to aim his sonic screwdriver which he was holding with his teeth. Laughing almost uncontrollably she held the door up while he replaced the pins. Once it was back in place the Doctor stood, looking somewhat embarrassed, pretending to brush dust from his hands.

"You're the Doctor." Honey said softly. "You can save the universe with nothing more than a candle and some cello tape but you can't work a door."

"I can to." He said defiantly, sticking a finger in her face. "Now let us never speak of this again."

They sat down together on the couch, no crash this time, Honey still smiling hugely at the Doctor's manhandling of the door. The Doctor pulled a foot up to rest on his knee, tucked a pillow behind his head and crossed his arms.

"I am now ready to play Magic 8 Ball. Ask me anything and I promise never to say 'Reply hazy, try again.'"

Honey had already decided to move in chronological order with the most simple questions. She asked about the note in her book, where she had been the first time she had called out to him, what 'I can hear you, sort of' meant. The Doctor explained it all.

Then Honey moved to the more complicated questions but again moving in chronological order. First was why did the dreams start at such a seemingly random point. The Doctor told the story of stopping Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen and how the Rift had somehow created a link between Honey and himself. Technically he wasn't lying to her because he really didn't know why that day had been the trigger for Serinae and the other TARDIS.

Honey asked him how he had gotten here. He explained to him about the existence of a portal which he had to further explain as a Time Lord trick to sooth her fears of the void. He didn't mention the other TARDIS in this explaination. Again, not really lying, just leaving facts out.

Honey asked several more questions, each one becoming more probing than the last until the Doctor finally steered the conversation in another direction. Honey told him all about her meeting with Hayden Delano and going to his clinic for help and the conversations she had heard while they thought her to be sleeping. After giving Honey no full answers but sounding as if he had he stood up and started pacing the room.

"So, now that you know most of my side of the story," he slightly admitted his falsehoods. "I think it's time we started to learn a little about this Professor. Did you look him up online?"

"There was nothing especially probative. A few essay references, something about a lecture he did over in Buffalo. That's it."

"You know what that means, right?"

Honey shook her head, no.

"It means that we have to go right to the source if we are going to solve this mystery. How do you feel about being a worm?"

Honey raised an eyebrow at his strange question. "I don't follow."

"As in bait. We're going fishing."

--

Not long after, Honey was pumping her legs furiously trying to keep up with the Doctor's purposeful, and long, strides.

"I'm sorry but are you actually suggesting that I turn myself in?"

The Doctor stopped and turned to face her.

"No, I'm suggesting that we turn ourselves in. Haven't you learned anything from watching me fumble my way around the Universe? Evil geniuses want nothing more than to talk about themselves and their evil plans. But they only do it when they think you're at their mercy. Therefore, we must seem to be at his mercy. In conclusion, we're going to go knock on his door."

He turned and continued down the street.

"Why don't we just fly the TARDIS in and take a look around?" Honey called, running to catching up with him.

"Naw, where's the fun in that? Half the fun's in the challenge of the escape."

"And I suppose this means you've already worked out how we're going to get out?" Honey already knew better than to ask this question. The Doctor made it all up as he went along and it always turned out alright, almost. She wasn't surprised when his answer was 'of course not'.

As they rounded the last curve in the street and their destination was in sight the Doctor almost stopped and told Honey to leave, go anywhere, just go the opposite direction. In the first few hours that he had known Honey he had withheld so much from her in the hopes that her ignorance would keep her safe from whatever it was that this man was looking for.

The Doctor had guessed that the Professor already knew about the existence of the portal and definitely knew of Honey's connection to it. He was banking on the hope that the Professor had deduced the Doctor's even stronger connection and would be more keen on having him captive than Honey.

He'd tried and succeeded in remaining very casual, or as casual as you could be about a kidnapper, in regards to the Professor. It had been very difficult to hide his fear of this strange man. Running down the hallway had not merely been an effort to outrun the henchmen, but a desperate race to get as far away from the Professor as possible. He was more than he seemed, much more, and the Doctor feared him.

As he and Honey covered the final meters approaching the building the Doctor wondered for the thousandth time whether he was doing the right thing. He was in a different Universe here. Anything could happen. Things he'd never even dreamed of. He hoped Honey was a strong as she seemed.


	32. Chapter 32

As the pair approached the front door of the building Honey jogged ahead a few paces and stepped in front of the Doctor, stopping him with a palm to the chest.

"Doctor, I know that your jury rigged plans for the most part always work out in the end but are you sure this is what we should be doing?"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, Honey, I am sure. The only other thing I can think of is tracking down the woman that ran out of here just before us. Unless you know where to find her then I'm going inside. If you don't want to come that's fine. I can't make you."

Honey knew nothing more than the womans name and though Verity was not exactly common she doubted they would be able to track her down with that alone. She could see that the Doctor was determined to do this and she wasn't about to let him do it alone, frightened as she may be.

"You're right. We should go in. Besides, he's got a trace on me so it's not like I can run."

"That's the spirit! Always stare danger right in the face. Unless of course you're looking at a male Scorpani. I met one once and regret looking at that danger. Face like a half chewed caramel." He clapped Honey on the back as he stepped around her as she laughed.

"Face like a what?"

Feeling braver Honey drummed her fingers on the wall as the Doctor fiddled with the door.

"How did you ever manage doors before that thing?" She asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I could walk through walls then. Ah, here we go." He cried as the door swung open. Before Honey could respond to his comment about walking though walls he was on his way across the front room. He turned and handed the sonic to Honey telling her to use setting 42 in case of emergencies.

Once again the building appeared deserted. The only light came from the few sky lights over the front desk. The hallway leading to the Professor's office was like a tunnel into nothingness it was so dark. Not even a hint of light showed under the double doors at the end. The Doctor seemed to hesitate at the door and Honey took the lead, sensing his sudden distaste for the task.

Wishing she had brought along a flashlight she stepped tentatively into the corridor. It didn't take long for the Doctor to follow and soon he was boldly leading the way. They reached the large wooden doors and with no indecision the Doctor lifted his hand and knocked sharply. A voice came from the other side.

"Verity if that is you then you might as well just turn around and leave. I am no mood for your grovelling."

"No Verity out here," called the Doctor cheerfully. "Unless you've changed your name from Honey in the last few moments. No? Then nope, no Verity."

The doors swung open and Hayden Delano stood there with a look of such malicious joy on his face that Honey shrunk back a bit and reached out of the Doctor's hand. He took it though carefully hid the fact from the Professor with the edge of his long coat.

"No need to call the boys in. We surrender. Just have a seat in here, shall we?" The Doctor lead Honey though the door and sat them down on one of the soft leather couches. They heard the door click softly shut and lock behind them. Honey laid a reassuring hand on the bulge in the coat pocket that was the sonic screwdriver. Just having that made her feel a thousand times safer.

The Professor crossed the room and sat down on his desk, now wearing a more subdued, but still evil, look.

"I must say I am surprised by your cooperation. After you escaped from my men I was sure that it would be some time before I had you in my grasps."

"Well, I do like to be convenient. Never been one for putting people out. It would be terribly rude of us to keep you waiting when, after all, you were only going to catch up with us eventually. I mean with those wonderful drugs and the clever little dart, why wouldn't we want to be back here…"

"Please, stop talking." The Professor said in a menacing voice.

"Right." The Doctor gulped and leaned back into the couch. Honey couldn't help but smile a little. This was the first time she'd actually been present for one of the Doctor's long winded, distracting speeches.

"I am not in the least fooled by your little games, Doctor. Oh yes, I know you are the Doctor. Honey kindly told me all about you. Now, I want to know all about who you are, where you've come from and what part the girl plays in all of this."

"Who her?" Asked the Doctor, sticking a thumb at Honey. "She's nobody. Picked at random. Well, not totally at random. I'm a sucker for green eyes. Your eyes are green right?"

"I don't for one second believe that is true but we'll come back to that. Perhaps you will tell me how you were creating her dreams?"

The Doctor leaned forward, elbows on knees, and gave his most conspiratorial look. "I have an even better question, since we're sharing. How were you able to see her dreams? I've never seen technology like that."

"It's simple really. He was using a psychic manipulator hidden in the pillow to unscramble the temporal wavelengths from my brain and convert them into visible images on the computer."

The Doctor and Professor both turned to stare at Honey who looked around her as if also wondering where that information had come from.

"Where on Earth did you think up that?" The look of utter disbelief on the Doctor's face made Honey blush.

"It just came to me. Was I right, Professor?"

"Completely correct young lady and you have confirmed my suspicions very nicely. You are quite a bit more than you seem." He turned his head to stare hard at the Doctor. "Both of you."

The Doctor saw something in that look, something he had only sensed before and decided it was time to end the conversation for the time being. He gave an affronted look and said, "Who me? I'm nothing. You know who was more than he seemed and relates directly to this city? A gent that called him self the Great Farini. No one had heard of him until he strung a rope across the falls there and strolled across it. Amazing man."

"Oh, guess what else he did! Invented the folding theatre chair! How clever is that?" Honey put in following the Doctor's lead.

"Did he really? Didn't do that where I come from. I wonder who did? I'll have to look that up…"

"ENOUGH!" The Professor thundered at them, standing and coming around the desk to haul Honey of the couch roughly.

The Doctor stood immediately, his face only centimetres from the Professor's, and said, "You take your hand from her, right now or you'll have me to deal with and you're already in enough trouble in my books."

Professor Delano sneered at him. "And just what are you going to do? Have you brought your Time Lord army with you? Have you come to watch this Universe burn again? I think not."

His free hand shot out suddenly, holding a sharp looking metal object, which he struck the Doctor in the chest with. Convulsing as if electrocuted the Doctor fell to the floor. Honey screamed and tried to wrest herself from the Professors grasp but his hand was like a vice.

"Don't bother struggling, girl. He'll wake up in a cell soon enough. For now, let's find a room for you?"

His fingers dug viciously into her arm as he dragged across the room. In the hall he lead her to the staircase and pushed her through. Only this time the stairs went down instead of up. Honey looked around, trying to get her bearings, but it was indeed the same stairwell. Had she imagined going down them to the hall way before?

At the bottom there was another door, identical to the one leading to her previous prison, only this one lead to a hallway filled with much heavier doors. The Professor opened the first one and shoved her inside.

"I'll be back shortly to have a chat with you after I attend to your friend. Enjoy the anticipation."

The door clanged shut and Honey was engulfed in darkness. Feeling her way around the room she found a small cot in the corner and settled down on it to wait. There was no fear this time. Now she had the Doctor with her and together they could take on anything. She had the sonic screwdriver and would be out of here in a flash to rescue the Doctor and they could be on their way. She only had to wait.


	33. Chapter 33

The Doctor awoke in a dark, humid room. The floor beneath him was hard and covered in a layer of slippery gunk. He sat up and rubbed his chest where the Professor had struck him. The area was sore but it seemed to be nothing more than a bruise.

Getting to his feet the Doctor swayed and nearly keeled over as the blood rushed from his head. Even two hearts sometimes had trouble compensating after an injury. He felt his pulse on each side of his neck. One heart was beating slightly slower than the other. So that's what he had been attacked with. A cardio haemostasis knife, designed to stop the heart and therefore the flow of blood. Basically a heart attack in a stick. To a human, fatal. To a Time Lord, just a nap and a headache.

When the dizziness passed the Doctor extended his arms into the darkness before himself and started walking. He'd only taken three steps when his fingers connected with more slimey concrete. In a motion that would have disgusted anyone watching he pulled his hand back and licked his fingers.

"Hmm, earthy with a pinch of calcium. A pump room. Someone's moving a lot of water somewhere. But why can't I hear the pumps?"

He continued his way around the wall of the room and after a moment came back to where he had started. At no point along the way had he encountered an exit of any kind.

"That means a trap door and probably in the direction of up."

Carefully he lifted his hands above his head but found nothing above him but empty space. He got down on his knees and crawled across the room, ignoring the squelch of ooze and muck between his fingers. Roughly half way across the room he found a grate, not very big, about the size of a basketball.

"Ok, so, not a pump room. More like a drainage basin of some kind. That's ungood. Very ungood."

Judging but the growth of yuck on the walls, the room likely hadn't been used in sometime but that didn't mean that it couldn't start being used again at any moment. The Doctor wrapped his fingers around the grate and heaved but the thing refused to budge. Sitting back oh his heels he wished he hadn't given Honey the sonic. At least he knew how to use it to get out of this mess. Then again he would have been searched for just such a tool and then they wouldn't have it at all.

Knowing there was nothing he could do but wait, the Doctor made his way back to the way and sat down. At least he still has his coat as some barrier between himself and the slime. Tipping his head back and humming a tuneless melody the Doctor prepared himself for the wait. He was nothing if not patient.

Minutes later he was paced the room, turning just before he hit the wall, then heading back across the six steps to the opposite wall.

"Who was I kidding? I'm not even remotely patient. I hate being trapped. This is terrible. It's dark and damp and dingy and that's all the 'd' words I can think of right now. How sad is that? I don't do well in the dark. I want to see what's around me. I know there's nothing to see but all the same…."

Over the sound of his own ranting and pacing the Doctor didn't hear the buzzing sound above him. He also missed the scraping of steel on steel as the trap door slid back. In fact he didn't look up until bright light flooded the chamber.

"Doctor, are you down there?"

Honey! She had figured it out! Escaped her own cage and rescued him.

"You really are a clever girl, Mistress Beatrix!" The Doctor grinned up at the face staring down at him from high above. The cistern was much deeper than he'd imagined. Nearly 6 meters at least.

"Hold on, Doctor. There's all kind of stuff up here. I'll see what I can find to get you out."

Her face disappeared and the Doctor heard her rummaging around and things falling over. Soon a knotty old rope dropped down and coiled at his feet. The fibres were old and sharp and stuck into his palms as he grasped the rope and began to haul himself out of the pit.

At the top he wrapped his arms around Honey and lifted her off the ground in a giant bear hug.

"Oh, you wonderful girl you!" He cried gleefully. "Aren't you just the best!"

Honey's grin was brilliant as she gazed up at him. "It's the strangest thing. I didn't even use setting 42 like you told me to. The right numbers just seemed to come to me as I went along. I think I'm still reading your mind just a little bit."

The Doctor again saw the Time Lord coming out in her. "You never know. Now where are we and how do we get out?"

The room they were in now was little different than the hole the Doctor had just come from. The walls were concrete and damp but were a little less grimy. There were shelves lining the walls, covered in tools and gadgets, all of which appeared very human in nature.

"There's the trouble, Doctor. I'm not sure that there is a way out. The door leading the stairs down here was the only one that I could open. Everything else just made your sonic screwdriver whistle a little bit."

"Dead lock seals. Only thing this little puppy can't handle." He said, flipping his toy in the air once and returning it to its home in his coat pocket. "All the same, we can have a look round and see what we can see."

Sometime later the Doctor finally had to admit defeat. The building was confusing and every route they found seemed to lead right back to where they had started. Every door that they suspected might lead somewhere was dead locked.

They made their way back to the one semi pleasant room they had found and sat down on the metal chairs on either side of the single cot in the centre of the room.

"Looks like we're in a bit of fix." The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, attempting to calm the crazy spikes and cowlicks.

"Maybe now you'll add a little more to my knowledge of what's going on here?" Honey was more perceptive than he'd thought at first. She knew that there was much more to this than the Doctor had explained.

"I suppose it can't do much harm now." The Doctor still wasn't prepared to tell Honey about her heritage but he would tell her about his suspicions about Hayden Delano. "Have you noticed anything about that Professor that seems somewhat odd to you?"

"You mean besides the fact that he kidnapped both of us and locked you in a hole in the ground?"

"You make an excellent point. But yes, besides that. Like the fact that he seems to have an extraordinary amount of information about Time Lords aside from what you've given him?"

Honey thought back and remembered the questions he had asked her when he returned to her cell. He knew about the portal and that it was a link between two parallel universes. He knew about the Doctor's binary cardiovascular system and how best to disable him. She haddened been able to tell him anything new and she was glad that the Doctor had reamined tightlipped.

"You're right. Is it possible that there are Time Lords in this Universe too?"

"Oh, there definitely are. And the more time I spend thinking about it the more convinced I am that Prof. Delano is one."

Honey was dumbstruck. How could she have been that close to a Time Lord and not known it?

"What makes you think that?"

"We have our ways. We can always sense each other but it took me longer this time. He's found some way of cloaking his identity from other Time Lords which isn't easy."

"What do you think he meant when he asked if you were here to watch this Universe burn again?"

"Now that one's got me flummoxed." The Doctor rubbed his stubbly chin and put his feet up on the bed. "You'd think that if he knows me to be a Time Lord he'd want to share some stories, chew the fat a bit, but he's very disobliging."

"Doctor, if there are Time Lords in other universes why couldn't you just go and collect a few and bring back the civilization to your universe?"

"I guess you wouldn't have been privy to all that went on when I went over to Pete's World the first time?"

Honey shook her head. That had been another blank spot in her dreams of the Doctor though he and Rose had talked about it often enough that she'd gotten the basics of the story.

"Going between universes is a complicated procedure. Even when the Time Lords were at their strongest only a few of us could do it. I wasn't one of them. Always ended up in Colchester. Anyway, you can't just switch people back and forth. It doesn't work that way."

"But you left Mickey in another universe." Honey interrupted. "And Rose and her mother ended up there too."

"That was different." The Doctor rubbed his cheeks, thinking hard. "This is hard to explain but basically it comes down to the fact that took the place of people that had existed. There were no more or less of the same person. Except for Rose but one person isn't likely to upset the balance. But, like I said, I can't create a portal, this one was created for me… oops."

The Doctor had been so absorbed in his explanation that he hadn't been able to stop himself before he let that fact slip. Honey perked up and began her flow of questions anew.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'll explain." Honey settled back down into her chair. "There isn't another Time Lord over there doing tricks for me. We found another TARDIS, abandoned at the bottom of the Atlantic and it was maintaining a portal to this Universe which is how I was able to hear you."

"Why would the Professor want access to this portal? Can't Time Lords here create their own portals? "

"Too many questions and too few answers. I don't have answers for anything. Lots of guesses but no answers. I think before we come up with anymore questions we should work on a way out of here."

Honey visibly sunk at this comment. They had spent an hour already trying to find a way out to no avail. There were no windows, no vents, nothing. Suddenly, she had a thought.

"If you're right, and Hayden is a Time Lord, don't you think he'd have a TARDIS around here somewhere?"

The Doctor sprang from his chair and shouted, "Of course! So obvious! I always over analize these things. This is why I bring humans along with me. You're simple little brain always catch these things." He didn't give Honey time to be offended. "I didn't even think to check for another TARDIS signal. Even if the door are dead locked the signals can still get through and maybe we can use his TARDIS to get a signal to the Gardener's TARDIS and move the portal here and jump right out. Let's have a go, eh?"

Sonic screwdriver out and blazing the Doctor ran from the room, like a bloodhound on a scent, following the beeping of his toy. Honey didn't know who the Gardener was but they were on the move again. No time for questions.


	34. Chapter 34

Jack was bored. More bored than he had been in a very long time and considering how long he'd been around, and some of the tedious ages he had endured, that was saying something. He'd been sitting inside the TARDIS for almost 2 days. There had been no change in the portal since they'd detected the probing from the other side.

Jack had taken himself on a complete tour of the TARDIS, played blackjack by himself for several hours and was now tinkering with the Doctor's tools. It had always bothered him that the Doctor had disabled his teleporter and he took this opportunity to try to fix it.

He thought that he might finally have gotten when there was a sound in his head. At first it was like a soft humming but it kept getting louder, more intense. Soon it was so loud that he thought it might kill him. Of course it couldn't really kill him so he just had to grin and bear it. At long last the noise lessened and Jack was able to hear a voice beneath it.

_Are you the Doctor's companion? _It was Serinae speaking to him an on a telepathic level. Jack had assumed his training would allow him to hear her with out a problem but now he realised that it was much more than that.

_You are right. Communicating in this way requires a special ability. Over the years I have tried many times to contact humans but they are unable to translate and are often injured. But you are special. You sustained long enough for me to build the correct synapses in your mind. _

Jack wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond. Was there some way he was supposed to think or could she hear words spoken aloud?

_So long as you are directing your words at me I can hear them in whatever form you choose._

"Well, that makes this easier." Jack said out loud, feeling somewhat strange talking to thin air. "And I guess you could say I am one of the Doctor's companions."

_The Doctor needs your help. I can do nothing from here. You must go through the portal. I can now bring you directly to him. _

"What? I can't go through. Who's going to watch the portal from this side?"

_Do you not trust me? I have maintained this portal for nine of your lifetimes. I will not fail now._

It was not that Jack didn't trust Serinae but he feared that the portal was too similar to the breach in time and space that had allowed the Cybermen into his world. What if the passage of another person weakened it? Maybe he could stall, buy some time for the Doctor to escape whatever mess he was in on his own. He usually could and Jack thought that this time would be no different.

"Alright, I'll go through but not yet. I'll need supplies and I can't get those without fixing my teleporter. Give me an hour to repair it and I'll go." Jack waited for Serinae's response, hoping that his tactic had worked. Finally she answered him.

_I will wait but you must hurry. I do not know the source of the danger but I can sense that it is great. Simply say my name when you are ready and I will open my TARDIS for you._

Jack was relieved but now also worried. What could the Doctor have done that he needed Jack's help getting out of? There wasn't much that the Doctor couldn't handle on his own. Jack wondered if his own suspisions of a trap could have been to close to the mark for comfort.

After thinking about it Jack decided that of course he was going to go to the Doctor's aid but he was going to make sure that there was someone on this side who knew how to close the portal first. That meant fixing the blasted teleporter.

Jack surprised himself 10 minutes later when he had a stroke of genius, switched two tiny wires and found himself standing in Torchwood's HQ feeling like he'd just stepped off a roller coaster.

"Wow, that's harsh. I'll never get used to that."

Gwen and Natalie were sitting in the meeting room together playing Halo on Owen's Xbox and both jumped to their feet as Jack entered the room.

"Shouldn't at least one of you be watching that screen out there?" He put his hands on his hips and gave Gwen his best condescending dad look.

"Oh, common Jack. It's been days. Nothing has happened. You wont let Natalie leave and she's going a bit mad down here. I just wanted to give her something else to think about."

"And you picked Halo? You could have at least brought her a better game. I hear Jade Empire's a neat one."

Gwen smiled when she realized Jack was not really mad at them for taking a break. The she realized that Jack wasn't where he was supposed to be either and called him on it.

"I finally got this teleporter working again. Keep that on the DL though. I don't want the Doctor taking away my toy again. How soon will the next shift be here?"

"Tosh should be here any minute."

"Good. She'll understand this better than anyone." He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and started writing. "Give this to her when she gets here and make sure that there are two of you here at all times. You can take Natalie home but no Retcon. That rule does not apply to her. I have to go through the portal. The Doctor's in trouble."

"You're going to just leave us here? What if something happens to you?" Gwen asked, her big, brown eyes growing wider.

"Hey, you haven't managed to lose me yet. Don't think you'll do it now." Jack gave her his trademark wink and pulled up his sleeve, ready to jump back to the TARDIS.

"Jack, wait." It was Natalie. Jack realized he had all but ignored her. "Am I ever going to see you again? Am I still part of Torchwood?"

"Once part of Torchwood, always part of Torchwood. It never leaves you. We'll see each other again."

And with that he was gone. Neither of the women had ever seen anything like it in their lives. One second he was there, the next he was gone. In the blink of an eye.

Back on the TARDIS Jack took a moment to recover from another rough jump and called to Serinae. This time the noise was brief and painless and he was able to hear her again, more clearly than before.

_The door is open, Companion of the Doctor._

"My name is Jack." He told the Swan, trying not to sound like he was being picky. She didn't answer and he didn't repeat himself. He walked out of the Doctor's TARDIS, into the Gardener's and across the Void and into another Universe.

Jack found himself now inside a long shadowy corridor. It was lit with a string of light bulbs and lined with grey, metal doors. He could here voices coming from the end of the hallway. He followed the sound to a door near the end and put his ear to it to listen.

"Are you sure the signal was coming from in here? It's just an empty room, just like everywhere else."

"This is as close as I could get. It's either up, down or straight ahead from here. Fancy walking through solid concrete and or defying gravity?"

"Doctor!" Jack burst out as he flung the door open and was greeted with a loud 'holy crap' from a pretty young woman standing besides the Doctor.

"I don't suppose you're Jack from this universe, are you? Didn't think so. Shouldn't you be in my TARDIS in another universe?" The Doctor stressed the last two words and leaned forward at Jack.

"Before you get all tied in knots let me explain."

"Before you explain let me ask a question." The girl interrupted.

"I've got one first. Who is this lovely young thing?" He reached out a hand to Honey but the Doctor slapped it away.

"Don't even try it, mister. I found this universe so you have to play by my rules. No flirting! And her name is Honey." He turned back to the woman. "Now, what was your question?"

Honey crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "Where's _your_ TARDIS?"

The Doctor looked uncomfortable and Jack lifted a hand to his mouth to hide a smirk. When was the Doctor going to learn that if he was going to collect clever people to surround himself with then he had to stop telling half truths?

"Well, you see Honey…" There was a crash from out in the hallway. "Ah, just in time. Distraction anyone? Jack, hold that door shut. We're going through a wall!"

Jack threw himself at the door just as the handle started to turn. Honey added her weight to it as someone pushed from the other side. The Doctor turned himself to the wall across the room and pressed the sonic to the concrete muttering.

"I knew I should have saved that setting. It took me ages to figure out how to resonate concrete. 89B? 20P? Was it high or low?"

"Doctor, I hope this doesn't take you too long cause someone wants through this door something bad and we can't hold it forever." Jack's voice was straining as he put all his weight into the door which continued to jump and buck beneath himself and Honey.

"Just a second more." Said the Doctor with his tongue between his teeth and he twisted and turned the dial on the screwdriver, it's pitch going up and down with every setting. "Ah ha! Got it! 98F. Human body temp. That's how I'll remember it from now on. I'll have this wall down before you can say red rubber bugger baby something. I can't even say it. Ok, before you can say blue bumping…"

"Doctor!" Honey and Jack shouted together.

"Sorry, sorry. Geez, you'd think you were the only ones doing any work around here." He set the sonic screwdriver against the centre of the wall and turned it on. It buzzed its usual buzz and soon the concrete started to splinter. Chips and flakes fell to the floor around the Doctor's feet and without warning it all gave way and collapsed to the other side.

He didn't wait for the dust to clear. Instead the Doctor leapt across the room and pressed the sonic onto the doorknob, locking it and cutting off their visitor. Honey and Jack stood up and rubbed their sore shoulders.

As the dust settled they peered through the hole the Doctor had created and were stunned by what appeared in the next room. Standing in the centre of another small concrete lined room was an object familiar to all three people gazing through the gap. No one could believe their eyes.


	35. Chapter 35

Professor Delano sat at his desk staring at his laptop. On the screen was a live feed of one of his basement rooms. His two prisoners and a new addition that had just appeared and were staring at his bait. In the centre of the room there stood a large blue box. It was as close as the Professor could get it to looking like a 1950's police box. But the trick seemed to be working.

As the man called the Doctor stepped forward to it, the Professor turned on the audio.

"Is this a TARDIS?" Asked the new man. The Doctor nodded and stopped a foot from the box as if hypnotised. Nobody moved. The Professor was content to wait.

There was a knock at his door. Without taking his eyes from the computer he called for the knocked to enter.

"You called for me, Hayden?"

"Ah, yes, Verity." He was much more cheerful than the last time they had spoken and the woman was visibly relieved. "You're just in time to witness the moment of my triumph. Stand beside me here."

Verity came around the desk and stood where the Professor had indicated. She looked at the screen and saw that he had retrieved the girl and was sure that was why his wrath had abated. Then she saw who was with her.

"That man! I've seen him. He was in the street when I left." Verity also remembered how kind he had been. She was almost sorry to see him on the verge of falling into Hayden's trap.

"Yes. A pity you were not able to identify him then. Perhaps if you had been monitoring the dream sequence this whole catastrophe could have been avoided."

Verity apologized demurely and took a step back from the desk. The Professor did not call her back. Instead he leaned towards the screen and began speaking softly to the figures they were watching.

"Just a little closer. You're curious, aren't you? Try to open it. Is it your TARDIS? My TARDIS?"

As if reacting to the Professor's coaxing the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. The girl reached out and grabbed his hand.

"I think it's a trap, Doctor."

"Well, of course it is." He replied, taking her hand away gently. "And now the only way out of here is to spring the trap. That door's not going to hold forever."

The man nodded over his shoulder and then Verity noticed the background noise of banging and crashing. So, Hayden's two thugs were minutes away from trapping them anyway. What did they have to lose?

Time seemed to slow as Verity watched the man's arm extend, moving the key ever closer to the small, round lock in the door. Then Verity realized that the key had already entered the lock. All movement had ceased on the screen. She assumed the feed had been cut somehow and wondered why the Professor was not reacting. Then she heard him chuckling.

"Hayden, what's happened?"

His laughter increased and turned to her with a truly malicious look in his eyes and no smile on his lips.

"They have sprung my trap. The instant that key touched the lock the three of them were put into suspended animation. Now we can do with them what we please."

He thumbed the intercom on his desk. "Men, take the girl and lock her in her cell. And find whatever device it was she used to escape last time. You may terminate the new one. He is of no consequence. Chain the Doctor and bring him to me."

Honey watched as the man picked up Honey, whose posture did not change as the lifted her, and carried her out of the room.

"Are they aware? Do they know what's happened to them?"

"The skinny, annoying one, yes. The girl, to a degree. The other one does not matter because in a matter of moments he will no longer be aware of anything ever again."

Verity had never seen this side of the Professor. She had known him for years and understood his search for a gateway back to his own world, but to hear him speak of life so flippantly. It frightened her.

The Professor didn't watch for the men to return to the room to finish their business. He went about the room preparing a place for the Doctor to be placed. A simple wooden chair with straps for arms and legs.

Verity took her eyes off the screen as the men came back for the Doctor. Assuming they would be coming through the office doors very shortly she made herself comfortable at her usual place in a leather chair to the side of the room. Here she would remain, unnoticed, to record the conversation.

She was about to sit when a gunshot echoed from the intercom. Running back to the computer she saw the new comer's body being dragged from view. Upon death the animation field had deactivated and his arms trailed limply above his head as they pulled him away. She'd never seen a dead body before, let alone a murder victim.

"You must not become soft, Verity." The Professors voice can sternly from the other side of the desk. "It will only make it easier for them to hurt you."

Verity had never known who Hayden meant when he said 'them' but she was more frightened than ever now and chose to merely nod in response. She composed herself and sat in her chair, waiting for the men to arrive.

It took the men several minutes to ease the Doctor's stiff limbs into place before they could deactivate the stasis. With the Doctor strapped safely to the chair they retreated to their stations on either side of the exit. The Professor leaned on his desk and pulled from his coat a device she had never seen before. It was a dark metal rod about six inches long with a bright red light at one end. He aimed it at the Doctor who became animated again and didn't seemed in the least surprised to find himself sitting in the Professors office, strapped to a chair.

"Where are Jack and Honey?" The Doctor didn't waste any time beginning the interrogation on his end.

"The girl is where I can keep tabs on her and the man is no more."

The Doctor didn't seem to react to the news of his friend's death, instead he asked if Honey was safe.

"Oh, don't worry about your dear Honey. She is safe until I have all I need from her."

"Well, glad to know that you won't be threatening me with her death as a result of my uncooperativeness. I do intend to be uncooperative, just so you know."

The Doctor smiled at the Professor but he did not smile back. Instead he stepped forward and slapped the Doctor sharply across the face.

"Now that was uncalled for. You should have just asked how to make me talk. I'd have told you to share. You tell me something and I'll tell you something. Tit for tat. I scratch your back, you don't whip mine."

The Professor leaned forward and spoke softly, menacingly. "No doubt you are accustomed to your idiotic ramblings irritating your victims to the point that they succumb to your will. I assure you that those tactics will not work on me. You will answer my questions. It is as simple as that."

The two men stared at each other. Their eyes hard and faces stern. Then the Doctor's lips curled in as if he was trying to contain a smirk. His eyes began to squint and then he burst out laughing.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that you remind me of a teacher I had once. He thought he was big and scary and intimidating but we really all just thought he was a bit of a clown. You know, pretended to cower and simper but laughed at him behind his back."

The Professor didn't miss the implication the Doctor was making. Threats, abuse, intimidation, these methods were not going to work, no matter for how long he employed them. The older man turned and went around his desk and sitting down in his chair, smiled wanly at the Doctor.

"Alright, we'll play this your way. I'll answer one question of yours for everyone one of mine that you answer to my satisfaction."

"Great! Who gets to go first? Shall we flip a coin? I think I have on in my left pocket." The Doctor twisted in his chair and strained against his bonds trying to reach his pants.

"I'll save you the trouble and ask the first question. A simple question. Merely a confirmation. Are you a Time Lord?"

"I am indeed and since I already know that you are too, and it's irrelevant to everything but my curiosity how you did it, I have a bigger question. Are you by any chance actually the Master?"

Professor Hayden raised an eyebrow and replied, "No, I am not 'the Master'. You have chosen to waste your question."

"Dang it. I was so sure. You're turn."

"How did you create the portal?"

The Doctor readjusted himself in the chair. "I didn't. Another Time Lord did."

The Professor's face lit up. "So there are other Time Lords!"

"Umm, you kinda already knew that. Hello, Time Lord over here." The Doctor wiggled his fingers in a wave. "But you're sort of wrong."

"How so?"

"I'm the last. There are no others. The portal was only maintained by an abandoned TARDIS."

The look of triumph on the Professor's face only grew. "That makes my job so much easier. One universe down, so many more to go."

"What!?" The Doctor's friendly demeanour and smile vanished as he shouted this.

"That's right. I rid this Universe of the scourge that is the Time Lords and I intend to do so through out all of time and space. And I will start with you."


	36. Chapter 36

Seven and a half minutes after Jack was shot in the forehead for about the fifth time in his life, he opened his eye and sat up. He was lying on a cold concrete floor in the same hallway that he had arrived in. Through the open door in front of him, past the room behind it and beyond the huge hole in the wall there stood the TARDIS.

This wasn't the real TARDIS. But the Doctor's senses could not have been wrong. This was somebody's ship to be sure. Jack was at a total loss. No sooner than he had arrived but the Doctor's trouble had caught up with them and left him for dead. He had no idea where he was or who was after them or even who had shot him.

Jack knew that they had been put into stasis. That much was easy to tell and he guessed that the Doctor and Honey had been taken. Getting to his feet Jack rubbed the quickly disappearing scab on his head. He walked slowly back towards the false TARDIS. He didn't touch it or try to open it but made his way around it, studying it from all angles.

Now he could see the differences. The windows were a little too small. The light on top covered in the wrong colour of glass. The plaque on the front doors only showed 5 words; FREE, PUBLIC and PULL TO OPEN. All of the smaller words in between were illegible. More of a black blur than any kind of text. Someone had tried very hard to make this as real as possible.

Looking up Jack noticed a small camera in the corner of the room.

"So someone was watching us. I wonder who."

Jack guess they couldn't be watching at that moment otherwise someone would have arrived to deal with him… again. He decided that his best bet would be to use this advantage he had and start looking for a way out of here. Once he got his bearings he would be able to teleport back inside and start looking for the Doctor and Honey.

Back out in the hallway Jack went left. At the end of the ill lit corridor he found a door leading to a stairwell. Looking up he discovered that the stairs lead to a blank and very solid wall. Going the other direction in the hall lead him to another dead end. He tried a few of the doors but they all seemed to lead to more small, concrete rooms with more doors that lead to more corridors. He found a storage room with a trap door in the centre. Shining a small light down revealed nothing but a deep pit and a length of rope lying at the bottom.

Jack tried to make his way back to the first hallway only to discover he was lost. Everything looked the same except for the odd room here and there with small distinguishing features. After going in circles for several minutes Jack stopped and sat down on a cot he'd found.

"I did not want to have to do this." He pulled up his sleeve and pressed a button on his wrist band. He reappeared back in the TARDIS room clutching his stomach and feeling like he'd been hit by a truck. And since he had been hit by a truck once, he knew the feeling well.

When he'd recovered he went back to the mysterious stairs for another look. The steps ended at the ceiling. At four steps up Jack's head was touching the roof. He examined the edges and saw that there were small cracks in the corners. He closed the door at the bottom and broke the light bulb hanging above him. His eyes adjusted to the light and he could see that there was a hint of light seeping through the cracks.

"A hidden staircase. Now how do we open it?"

Opening the door again for the light Jack set about searching the walls for a trigger of some kind to lift the secret door away. There was a grey box, like a fuse panel, above the door. Inside contained nothing but a few wires but that was all Jack needed. Plugging one wire into his wrist strap he fiddled for a second and…

"Voila!" Jack patted himself on the back as the roof lifted to reveal another door.

Out the door he was in a rather more comfortable hallway ending with double wooden doors. He heard the Doctor's voice behind them and put an eye to the space between the two doors.

Insides he could see a woman sitting against the far wall, the Doctor strapped to a chair and an older man leaning on a desk. From the shadows in the floor he could see that there were two people flanking the doors and guessed it was the men that had shot him.

He didn't stay to listen to the conversation. The Doctor could hold his own for a few minutes more. He turned and jogged down the hall heading towards the large, bright room he could see at the end. Half way there he heard someone call his name.

A door just behind him had a small window and at that window now was a face. A pretty, pert little face surrounded by dark blond curls.

"Well, hello again little lady." Swaggering over to the door he leaned on the wall and gave her a lascivious smirk.

"Jack, I promise we can flirt later just get me out of here."

He laughed and told her to back up. The lock on the door was a simple mechanical device that required a key. Had it been a magnetic lock or a computerized lock then Jack could have opened it silently and quickly. But ironically this basic little lock was the most difficult.

Honey backed away to the far wall and Jack threw himself with all his might against the door. All of Jack's might was much more than was required and the door flew free from its hinges and fell to the floor with a thud, Jack on top of it. He stood and dusted himself off.

"Knight in shining armour to the rescue."

Honey gave him a tight hug which he gladly returned "Boy am I glad to see you, Jack. You're not going to believe what's been going on around here."

"Not really sure how you know me but that's ok. And, yeah, I bet. Three Time Lords in one place at the same time. It's unheard of!"

Honey took at step back. "Three Time Lords? Question one; how do you know that Professor Hayden's a Time Lord? Number two; where is there a third Time Lord?"

Jack looked uncomfortable. "Well, number one is easy. I'm not sure who 'he' is yet but he's got a TARDIS and he knows how to use it. Two, I think we'll have to wait for the Doctor to explain."

"Oh no, don't think you're getting off that easily. I want to know what you meant because I've been piecing some things together and I've already got a pretty good idea."

There was the sound of a door opening down the hall and Jack and Honey froze where they stood. Footsteps approached and Jack flattened himself against the wall beside the empty door frame, ready to throw himself at who ever stepped through.

The steps were soft and clicking, not the heavy treading of a man in working shoes and Honey was not surprised when she saw who came into view.

"Verity. I think you know what you're in for. No bonds round these wrists now."

Verity held up her hands in a defensive gesture. "No, Honey, I can help. I saw what he had done to that man. I never knew he was like that. I've been lied to, just like you. Let me help you."

Honey didn't trust this woman but she still had Jack on her side and maybe she could use that to her advantage. She nodded at him and he stepped into Verity's view.

"Don't worry. He's not dead."

Verity went white as she realized who the ghost before her was. "But you died. I saw you with a hole in your head."

Jack shrugged. "I tend to get over those things pretty fast. Still willing to help now that you know I'm not dead?"

Verity nodded.

"Good. Because I have a plan.


	37. Chapter 37

In the Professor's office there was total silence. The story that had just been told muted even the Doctor's chatty nature.

"So, Doctor, now you see why this must be done. Why I must have access to that portal and why you must cease to regenerate."

Before the Doctor could even begin to bargain for his life there was a loud noise in the hallway. Both of the Professor's men turned for the door ready to investigate.

"Darrius, Nathaniel, ignore it. No doubt our prisoner is attempting to escape again. I'd hoped she would have learned her lesson by now. Verity, go explain her new situation to her now that you too know all the details."

Verity did not reply. She was sitting in her chair with her head down, staring at the floor. So lost was she in her own thoughts that she did not hear the Professor at first. He called her again and she snapped her head up and delivered to them the most artificial smile the Doctor had ever seen. The Doctor could see the sorrow and fear behind it even if the Professor could not.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I was just trying to process all of what you just told us."

She stood and crossed the room. The Doctor gave her a pleading look as she passed him and was rewarded with the most subtle of winks. He didn't change his demeanour as the Professor was watching him intently but inside he glowed. Perhaps there was a way out after all.

"Have you anything to say for yourself, Doctor? Any defence for your kind?"

"My kind? They're your kind as well and it sounds as if you're the worst of the lot. "

"Don't sound so sanctimonious, Doctor." The Professor spat out the name like it was poison. "How can you claim to be anything other than just like me when you are the last in your Universe as well?"

"I am different, Hayden. Vastly different. I mourn for their deaths with every breath I draw. I ache to see my family and friends, my home again."

The Professor laughed at the Doctor's heartfelt response. "I'm sure you do, Doctor. The guilt is just eating you up isn't it?"

Fury burned inside the Doctor but he didn't let it show. This man wanted a reaction. He wanted a reason to lash out and the Doctor wasn't going to give it to him. This whole time, while the Professor focused on his face, the Doctor had been stretching his bonds, lifting his arm, trying to slide something out of his sleeve.

"When Verity returns we shall begin. I'll be needed a DNA sample so that I can pose as you, otherwise your TARDIS might not accept my control. What would you least like to lose. Oh! I know. Perhaps I shall cut out your tongue. Seems appropriate."

Before the Professor could continue with his grisly list of what he might cut from the Doctor's body there was a shout from the hallway. It was Verity, calling for help.

"You two stay here and watch him. Don't let him move a muscle. I will see what the commotion is about."

As the Professor left the room the Doctor began to shift his arm higher. Both the men were ignoring him, figuring him to be safely strapped to the chair, and watching the events unfolding in the hall.

Finally what the Doctor sought slid out of his sleeve and into his waiting fingers. He twisted the sonic screwdriver around in his hand and aimed it at his bonds. They may just be leather straps with no locks of any kind but perhaps he could loosen them enough to pull his hand free.

When Jack and Honey appeared out of thin air right in front of him, the Doctor nearly flipped his chair over backwards.

"No time to explain." Jack whispered and he wrapped one hand around the Doctor's forearm. The door exploded open and the Professor came barging in just in time for Honey to wave goodbye as they teleported away.

The trio reappeared again, chair and all, in Honey's apartment. Honey fell onto her couch, clutching her head while the Doctor shook his violently and Jack dry heaved into a handy purse.

"Too many teleports in too short a time." Jack muttered as he settled himself onto the floor. Honey leaned forward from her seat to undue the bonds around the Doctor's limbs. He sprang to his feet and started pacing immediately.

"We can't stay here. They caught us here once and they will again. So, first thing we have to find a new place to hide. Then, we have to get rid of that tracker on you, Honey. Then back through the portal, all of us, to close it up for good."

"Thank you, Jack. Thank you, Honey. So glad you were able to fix your teleporter and get me out of there." Jack said sarcastically, imitating the Doctor. "Don't mention it, Doctor. Glad we could be of help."

"You just said don't mention it. I knew you were going to say that, so I didn't mention it." The Doctor replied to Jack's sarcasm. Honey giggled a little which quickly turned into a full bellied laugh.

The Doctor looked at her sideways and then back at Jack. "She on more drugs?"

"This is unbelievable!" Honey said, still laughing. " I just cannot believe this is happening. I'm having an adventure with the Doctor and Jack. Teleporting about, escaping evil villains and playing with a sonic screwdriver."

Jack twirled his finger around his temple and mouthed the words 'she's loopy' at the Doctor. 'But cute' he added as an after thought.

The Doctor sat down on the couch beside Honey and threw and arm around her shoulder. "I haven't been entirely honest with you, Honey, and considering the information that I've just gained, I think it's about time I came clean."

"Don't you think we should get somewhere safer before we sit down for a heart to heart?"

"Ah, see now this is why I like this girl!" The Doctor tousled her hair as if she were some sort of pet. "She uses her noggin. Safety first, then secret telling. So, where shall we go? I hear Algonquin's nice and it will certainly take then a while to follow us there."

"Can't he just use his TARDIS?" Jack asked from his place on the floor.

"No." The Doctor replied. "He can't. That's why he needs me. Or at least part of me. He was going to cut out my tongue. Can you believe that? How would I have ever said supercalifragilisticexpialidocious again? How barbaric."

"Do you have a lot of occasion to say that?" Honey asked sceptically.

"Of course." Said the Doctor as if that was explanation enough.

Reaching out a hand, the Doctor pulled Jack up. The man swayed a little as he gained his feet again. Honey and the Doctor went quickly about the apartment throwing all sorts of things into a large camp bag that Honey procured from a closet. She threw in a box of granola bars and a bag of fruit, matches, two small blankets, a flashlight and several other essential on-the-run the type items. The Doctor picked up her Xbox controller, an empty DVD case, a pair of toenail clippers and a spent battery from the garbage.

"All set! Shall we away to the great outdoors?"

Jack looked sick at the thought of yet another teleport. Honey put an arm around his waist and batted her eye lashes at him. "Come on, Jack. I share a blanket with you."

"Now how can a man argue with that offer?" His smile was still weak but all the same he linked arms with the Doctor and Honey and activated the teleport.

This time when they landed Jack fell backwards right away and lay groaning on the ground. Honey light-headedly staggered to where he'd fallen at sat down beside him. The Doctor walked in circles as if spinning would somehow negate the effects of the teleport.

"I do _not_ like doing that." Honey face had turned a pale shade of green. It matched the needles of the hemlock tree beside her. The sun was just setting across the large lake upon whose shore they sat. The air was cool and with night falling fast the Doctor suggested that they build a fire before they lost all light. When Jack recovered, he offered to take on the task of getting a fire going while the Doctor talked to Honey.

They sat on a large piece of granite at the waters edge walking the sun fall behind the wall of hemlock and birch across the lake.

"Everything I have told you so far has been true, Honey. I just left some things out. The portal was created by another Time Lord. Long story short she rewrote her cells and turned herself human but the job was only half done. She escaped into this Universe, still part Time Lord and began a life. She married and had children and you are one of her great, great, I don't actually know how many greats, granddaughter."

When Honey didn't answer, but kept her eyes on the setting sun, the Doctor went on. He told her about the Scarlet Swan, the cause of her dreams, and what he wanted to try to do. His plan to bring out the Time Lord in her.

When she spoke at last her voice was soft and the Doctor had to lean closer to hear her. "I always thought I was a little crazy. Like maybe I had schizophrenia. Even before I started dreaming of you there were always these little voices in my head, telling me stories. And I've always had a way with plants."

The Doctor had expected a more enthusiastic response to this news. "Are you alright?"

"When it was just insanity and a talent for making things grow it was fine. I could live with that. But to know that my skills, my stories, are all the result of the slow wasting away of a Time Lord… Well, it becomes so much more tragic. It's no longer a gift. It's a curse and I have to live with it."

The Doctor jumped off the rock and stood before her, holding her hands tightly in his own. "It's not a curse and it's certainly not your fault. And what you just said proved to me that all the trouble I've gone to, jumping across Universes, having my heart stopped, suspended animation, it's all been worth it. You're amazing and don't for a moment think otherwise."

Honey smiled at him and he could see the happiness returning to her face. In his own heart he forced down the hope that was sneaking up. He didn't dare to believe that maybe this young woman could be made into a Time Lord. This was the first legacy of his people that he had found that had not turned out to be or contain a complete horror.

She jumped off the rock to stand beside him. "I think I am going to forget what you told me. That way I can pretend that I'm still just some stupid ape and this can all just be an adventure."

Honey walked back to Jack and the kindling fire but the Doctor didn't follow. He stay at the water, watching the suns last rays radiate above the trees and listening the wind soughing in the trees. He wondered if he could tell Honey everything else he had learned and why she had to return to his Universe with him. Why she was a threat to his very existence and how she could bring about the rise of an Empire so terrible it could spell doom for everyone.


	38. Chapter 38

Professor Hayden lunged across the room at Verity, knocking her to the floor.

"You stupid woman!" He screamed at her cowering form. "Every time I let you out of my sight you set me back. And you two."

The Professor swung around to his two henchmen. "I told you to kill that man. You left him for dead and now they have all escaped."

The smaller man, Darius, stepped forward. "I shot him. I put my gun to his forehead and I shot him. Nathaniel watched me do it and we left him in the basement."

"Well, obviously he is neither dead nor in the basement." The Professor bellowed at them, his face red with rage.

His expression changed, as only an insane mans can, and he sat down at his desk calmly. "At least the tracking chip is still in place. It was more accurate then I anticipated and my only consolation is that we will have them back soon."

While he activated the chips program and it began its search for Honey, Verity pulled herself from the floor and straightened her clothing. Steeling herself she stepped up to the desk and addressed Professor Delano.

"Hayden, I'm leaving. I won't do this for you any more. When I joined you I did so believing that you were helpless. A stranded old man, searching for a way home. Everything you have ever told me has been a lie. You abused an innocent young woman, ordered the death of man, who was guilty of nothing except being a stranger, and were preparing to do unspeakable things to the Doctor." Like everyone the Doctor encountered, Verity wasted no time in speaking of him with familiarity. "You are a sick and twisted man and I will no longer be part of this. Goodbye."

The Professor did not even look at Verity until she pounded a fist on his desk and screamed, "Why wont you look at me damn it?! I've been your partner for nearly 10 years. I have done despicable things thinking that I was only doing what was right and now you won't even look me in the eyes."

Now, the Professor slowly turned his head, casting a hard and icy look upon Verity. At first she held his gaze but soon she faltered and her eyes fell to the ground.

"What makes you think that you were anything but a tool to me, woman? You were foolish and malleable enough for to use for my own purposes. You served as an excellent guide on how to act on this planet among you primitive and ignorant creatures. But let me assure you that I could have used any witless woman to achieve my goals."

Tears welled in Verity's eyes and she dug her fingernails in her palm to stop their flow. She knew now that escape from this place was not going to be as easy as she'd thought. She'd assumed that the Professor's affection for her would keep her safe but now everything was changing right in front of her.

"Please, just let me leave. I won't tell anyone what's going on here. I won't try to stop you. I just want to go home."

His cruel laugh echoed through the room again and for the first time Verity felt the fear that so many others must have felt at that sound.

"I'm afraid you'll not be leaving here tonight, Verity. Boys, take her away and make sure that she at least will not escape."

Verity spun around the face the two men. She knew them both so well. They were not the smartest lads on the planet but surely they would not allow her to be treated in such a way. She begged and pleaded but they still took her by the arms and dragged her from the room while she wept. Hysteria over took her as they lead her towards one of the many cells lining the hall. She screamed and babbled incoherently but the men took no heed.

They were not rough or unkind but placed her gently in the largest room, thinking that its couch, TV and comfortable bed would sooth her. As they left the room, closing and locking the door firmly, they gave each other dubious looks and returned to the Professor's office.

Professor Delano was behind his desk looking pleased with himself.

"Now that we have removed the excess of estrogen from the room let us discuss how you are going to retrieve our quarry this time. It would seem that they have a teleporter. Oh, don't look so shocked. How can anything come as a surprise knowing what you do? As I was saying, they have managed to move a good distance from here but we will follow them."

The men's PDAs buzzed in their hip clasps as the Professor sent them the information they needed to find the Doctor and Honey. As the reviewed the coordinates the Professor picked up his phone and dialled. He spoke softly for a moment and then hung up.

"A helicopter will be waiting for you at the private helipad outside the city. You have clearance to fly north but only for the next 24 hours. Heaven help you if you do not return with them within that time."

--

While the Professor sat patiently in his warm and comfortable office the Doctor, Honey and Jack were huddled around their smouldering fire. The night was cool and Honey wished she had packed more supplies. She and Jack were sharing both blankets while the Doctor, who seemed quite comfortable, leaned back against a rock with his feet practically in the coals.

They had eaten a small meal of apples and granola bars and were hungry for more but the Doctor felt that they were safest staying put for the time being. Honey had threatened and cajoled and teased but she could not get a single word out of the Doctor about what he had learned from the Professor.

The stars were bright above them, unblemished by the ambient lights of any city, and the wildlife chirped, cried and howled in the darkness around them. Several times they had heard the haunting call of a loon close by and Honey was awed by the magic of this place. Despite her curiosity she understood the Doctor's unwillingness to disturb the beauty of the night.

Honey guessed it was drawing close to midnight. She knew that Jack wasn't likely to sleep and the Doctor definitely wouldn't. Adding that to curiosity made the odds of Honey sleeping slim to none.

"Doctor?"

"Yup?" He replied quickly though he appeared to be in his own world.

"I really feel as if we should be doing something. They found us so quickly last time whose to say they wont do the same now?"

Honey's words hung in the air between them. The Doctor had not taken his eyes from the flames that danced around the logs. He face grew more concerned and Honey wished she had not said anything to disturb his peaceful musings.

At last he spoke. "You're right. There is something we should do but you're not going to like it and I didn't want to be the one to suggest it and make you feel like you have to do it."

"Hey, now that's a sign that he really likes you." Jack nudged her gently. "Sometimes I wonder if he likes me at all. He's always suggesting fatal tasks for me."

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer." The Doctor turned his nose up, looking properly slightly.

As much as they bantered and insulted each other, Honey knew that the Doctor and Jack were fast friends and would never intentionally hurt one another. She also knew that they were tag teaming her into forgetting what had started the conversation.

"Hey, if it means not going back to that warren of dank concrete tunnels, I'll do just about anything."

Pulling his shoes away from the fire the Doctor shuffled on his knees to where Honey and Jack sat. Settling back on his feet he looked Honey in the eyes.

"I wasn't joking when I said I thought it was something you might not want to do and after I tell you I will completely understand if you say no. I'll think of another way to stop them finding us."

Honey couldn't think of what the Doctor could possibly be referring to that she would be so unwilling to attempt. "It can't be worse than being strapped to a bed, hungry and needing to pee."

Jack laughed. "I can think of much better things to do while strapped to a bed!"

Honey elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Sorry! I was just trying to lighten the mood. It freaks me out when he gets this serious."

Looking back to the Doctor, Honey raised her eyebrows at him questioningly.

"The microchip in your shoulder has to go. I thought I'd muddled with it enough that they wouldn't be able to track us but he's too clever for that. If he's got the kind of sway I suspect he does then he'll follow us where ever we go."

Honey now understood why the Doctor was loath to bring up the problem. The point of the dart she had been shot with had been nearly an inch long. The chip would be buried at least that deep in her upper arm. Removing it was not going to be pleasant.

"Doctor, you had a heart stopped for me. Jack died for me. You both left your universe behind for me. The least I can do is endure a little bit of discomfort."

Her words were brave but as Honey lay on her stomach with her head pillowed on Jack's thigh she clenched her teeth in fear. Her pain threshold was very low and something as minor as a knocked shin could set her crying. But she didn't tell the Doctor that as he dug about in his coat pockets, procrastinating.

He found what he was looking for and couldn't delay any longer. In his hand he held a pair of thin, delicate tweezers and a sharp looking blade.

"I knew I had a first aid kit in there somewhere. So much junk collects over the years. Really should turn the whole works inside out for a bit of fresh air."

"You're going to clean those things right?" Honey eyes widened as the Doctor rambled about his pack-rat pockets.

"Oh, of course. What do you take me for, some kind of quack? Mind you, I do like ducks." He gave Honey a quirky but not particularly reassuring smile.

"They're from the 66th century. Self cleaning." Jack explained to dispel her fear.

"So they can make themselves clean but they don't come with a touch of anesthesia?"

"That's a very good point. You'd think someone would have thought of that by then. Are we ready?" The Doctor asked testing the edge of the blade on his thumb.

"As I'll ever be." Honey wrapped on hand around Jack's knee and groped for his hand with the other. She turned her head away as the Doctor leaned forward with the tiny blade in hand. She flinched as the blade touched her skin but the pain was surprisingly little.

"Just a little cut." The Doctor told her. If this was it then she could certainly bear it. What came next made her gasp sharply. It felt like the Doctor had picked up a stick from the embers and stabbed her with it. She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her fingers into Jack's leg and hand. Thankfully he didn't react and merely stroked her hair soothingly.

The Doctor often needed reminding of when he was being rude or insensitive. If he was lost in thought or proving himself right he tended to become slightly oblivious to other peoples feelings. This was one of those times.

"Boy, that thing is really in there. Keeps slipping out of my grasp. How ya doin' there, Honey, ma girl?" He added as an after thought when he saw the look Jack was shooting his way.

Honey didn't answer and the Doctor stopped his chatter and focused. At long last he sat up straight and cried out triumphantly. He set his tweezers down on a thin metal tray also from his first aid kit. Honey relaxed as he carefully wiped away a trickle of blood and covered the tiny cut with a band-aid.

"I don't like you." She said sulkily as she sat up and pulled her hoodie back up over her shoulders.

"Course you do! Here, have a popsicle." He held out a bright yellow piece of ice on stick. "It's banana."

"Where did you get that?" Honey asked as she took the sticky treat from the Doctor.

"Pocket are great." Was all he said before picking up his tray and walking to the other side of the fire and back to his rock.

Jack put an arm around Honey, for the first time in a totally innocent way, and told her she should get some sleep. He balled up the second blanket as a pillow and draped his great coat over her for a blanket.

Her fear and worry much displaced, it wasn't long before the soft sounds of the night and the peaceful crackle of the fire lulled Honey to sleep. She didn't hear Jack and the Doctor talking quietly at the edge of the firelight.

"Stay here and keep her safe." The Doctor said gravely.

"Where are you going?"

"I got this thing out just in time. They were on to us the second we left and they'll likely be here within the hour."

"That doesn't tell me where you're going? Off into the wilderness somewhere? Somehow I don't see you a wander round in the forest kind of guy."

The Doctor looked affronted. "I'll have you know that I was a level 5 camper when I was a kid. Just not big on the bugs. Antennae and multiple triple jointed legs just give me the willies."

Jack rolled his eyes. "I thought so."

"Want me to tell Honey you're scared of Stormtroopers? I thought not. Now just be quiet and keep the fire low. I'm going to have a word with our friends when they land whatever it is their flying and I'm hoping to be far away from here for that chat."

Jack embraced the Doctor in a quick hug. "Be careful, Doctor."

"If I'm not back by morning… just wait longer."

And with that he was off into the inky blackness of the forest with only a flashlight and his sonic screwdriver.


	39. Chapter 39

The Doctor trudged purposefully through the woods heading north. While he walked he called out to Honey. He was out of practice and wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to pull it off. Despite he intense concentration he managed to avoid rocks, roots and rabbit hole alike and stay on his feet. The moon had risen and cast eerie, silver shadows across his path.

He was getting desperate. He needed to get this message to Honey before he was found by the Professor's men. If he was with them when he connected with her then it was possible that they might be able to trace the psychic link back to where she and Jack were hiding.

Giving up on walking and talking at the same time he sat down on a log he was stepping over and closed his eyes.

_Honey. _The Doctor called with his mind. _Honey, you've got to answer me._

Over and over he called and finally her heard something. Not an answer but an awakening. Honey's untrained mind rose to his call in a flood of memories and emotions, telling the Doctor everything. He saw her whole life. A long and happy childhood, filled with games and imagination. The restless teenage years where she found herself separate from her friends. Her mind ran wild with her dreams and stories that grew more real and vivid with every night that passed. And finally her first dream of himself.

Then came the explosion, the dream had triggered the latent Time Lord in Honey, and had started her change. Her mind grew sharper, her skills greater and her life more lonely. She gradually cut herself off from her friends, not because she wanted to, but because she felt she had to. Not only did she feel that they didn't understand the new her but she stopped understanding them. Their petty squabbles and blind ambition. The general lack of desire to do genuine good in the world.

And then the Doctor found something that made him blush. Honey didn't know how to close the doors of her mind. Or she didn't want to. Her affection for the Doctor had become much more. Her mind was filled with imaginings of herself and him.

He dug deeper, past these dreams and found the root of them. He discovered just how deep Honey knowledge of him ran and why she felt the way she did. He found rooms in Honey's mind that she herself had not explored. Once opened, her consciousness flooded in and penetrated every memory.

Before she could become absorbed in the newfound corners of her mind the Doctor drew her attention away and started to tell her a new story. She followed him with rapt attention and their connection became so strong, so solid, the Doctor knew Honey would never be the same again.

--

Honey awoke in the predawn light with a cramp in her leg. It took her a moment to remember where she was but when she shifted and felt someone lying on the ground beside her it all came back. Jack had fallen asleep, something Honey didn't think he did anymore, with the corners of his coat pulled over his shoulder and hip and part of his head resting on the rolled up blanket Honey had been using as a pillow. Back to back with him and with the fire at her front Honey had been warm for most of the night but he must be freezing.

She turned over and pulled the coat so that it covered more of him than her. Over coming her shyness she wrapped an arm around him and briskly rubbed his frozen chest.

It didn't take long for him to wake up and realize the position Honey had put herself in.

"Now this is the way to wake up." He smiled up at her and she slapped him hard on the arm.

"Don't be such a pig. You're freezing." Honey castigated him.

"It wont kill me and it certainly wouldn't kill you to get up and stoke that fire a bit." He rolled away from her pulling his coat with him and curling up with a shiver.

Honey got up and threw a few dry branches on the remaining red coals. She sat and poked at the growing fire while she contemplated her dreams from that night. In that short space of time she had learned so much about herself. The feelings she had thought she held for the Doctor were not even real. Not in the way she thought them to be.

Her adoration for him was not that of lovers but something that all Time Lords felt for one another. Something that, until now, she had been unable to comprehend. It was more like the love and affection that exists between siblings.

The knowledge did not sadden Honey. It made her happy for now their was no fear of unrequited love. She knew that the Doctor loved just as much, and in the same way, as she loved him. In a way it was a relief. She'd spent years wondering if she would be alone all her life because of what she felt for the Doctor. It was a worry she put to the back of mind and forced herself not to think about. This knowledge came with a kind of freedom.

But even know there was no time to think about it. Her feelings would have to remain only half explored until she and Jack had figured out a way to save the Doctor.

--

The sky was brightening with the grey light that dulls the world just before the sun rises and makes the dawn look that much more beautiful. The Doctor had gone nearly 10 kilometres from the camp and found what he was looking for. A large open area stood before him. It was a rocky space filled with blueberry bushes and small, windswept evergreens.

All night he had heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance and now that he was stopping it wouldn't be long before they found him. He walked to the centre of the clearing and sat down on the rock.

He pulled from his pocket the odd assortment of items he had collected before leaving Honey's apartment and set to work. In no time he had the controller pulled apart and was tinkering with the wires inside it.

The Doctor was glad to have something to keep his mind from what he had asked Honey to do and what he was going to be forced to do once he was back in the city with Professor Delano.

--

The fire was roaring again and Honey was roasting their last two apples. Her plan was to mash them up with the last granola bars and make a sort of oatmeal, cereal business. Jack was pacing behind her, wearing a patch in the needles and twigs covering the forest floor.

"He should have been back by now, Honey. He had a plan and he should be back."

"Jack, you might as well sit down. The Doctor told me everything last night and all the time that you've been pacing and worrying I've been trying to work it all out in my head. I think I've got it all now so I'm going to tell you everything I know."

Jack sat down across the fire from her. He didn't question her or get annoyed that the Doctor had told her more. He just waited.

"The Doctor told me why the Professor is the way he is. There was a Time War in this Universe too. Only there were no Daleks. This war was a civil war. Time Lord versus Time Lord. He doesn't know how it started or whether there was a good side and or an bad side but it ended the same way. With the death of every Time Lord.

"The Professor, whose name is actually Hayden, they didn't create their own names like the Doctor and the Master and the Gardener and all that, anyway, Hayden was only a child when the war ended. His father put him in a TARDIS and sent him off to save him from death. He never learned to pilot the ship, to navigate time and space or to use the abilities his was born with. Instead he had a whole other set of talents.

"The war create the need for weapons and disguises. That's why he was able to completely hide the fact that he is a Time Lord. That's how he had the stun gun that was able to stop one of the Doctor's hearts. Everything he knows about Time Lords and being from Gallifrey was built on a life time of battle. He's been on earth almost as long as the Gardener and has killed himself and regenerate over and over again all the while searching for a way to destroy all Time Lords."

Jack could see where this was going. "And how do you fit in to his plan to do this?"

"Apparently Serinae isn't the only reason the portal is still open. Over the years it's bonded it self to my family's DNA. I keep the portal stable now. If Hayden were to find the portal while he had me in his secret jail he would be able to use the portal whether Serinae liked it or not. As long as I am alive and the Gardener's TARDIS remains then the Professor has a permanent link to your Universe."

"So what does the Doctor want us to do?" Jack asked nervously.

"If I go through the portal it would suck back in on it self with both links on one side. It would be closed forever."

"So, why don't we all just hop on through to the other side and leave Captain Crazy over here?"

Honey was silent.

"You don't want to leave, do you?" He realized. Jack was so used to people wanting to stay with the Doctor that it never occurred to him that Honey might not want to.

"This is my home, Jack. My family is here. I can't just leave them. The Doctor's plan is to bring Serinae to this side instead and close it from here. But before he can do that he has to stop the Professor."

"And you can't just kill a Time Lord. I hope he's got one heck of a plan." Jack said with a doubtful look. "You wouldn't believe what we went through to stop the Master."


	40. Chapter 40

When the large military helicopter appeared over the treetops the Doctor was just putting the finishing touches on his modified and completely redesigned Xbox controller. It was now a long rectangle with the four blue, red, yellow and green buttons in the centre with the cord running from one end to the base of the sonic screwdriver.

Before the copter could land the Doctor stowed his new devise in his deep coat pockets. He stood and clasped his hands behind his back while he waited for the aircraft to set down just a few metres away. Two men jumped out and ran towards to the Doctor. They grabbed him by the arms and dragged him towards the helicopter.

"Easy there boys. Careful with the coat. You never know when it could go off."

The men ignored him and carried on pulling him across the rocky surface.

"Don't suppose we could stop and chat for a moment? I'm sure we've got lot in common. Do you like football? Oh, sorry, soccer. No, you probably watch hockey over here, don't you? Umph." The Doctor stumbled as the men shoved him thought the sliding door on the side of the craft.

They climbed after him and forced him into a seat, strapping him across the chest and waist, pinning his arms. The Doctor sputtered and babbled while the men signalled to the pilot to take off and put on their own belts.

"So, umm, where are we off to then gents?" The two men ignored him still. They didn't even look at him. "Ah, I think I see what's happening here. You're not to talk to me. There's really not much you could tell me that I don't already know and you can hear everything I'm saying anyway so we might as well pass the time with some small talk… ok really tiny talk. Mildly amusing breakfast telly gossip? Nothing?"

The helicopter continued to be free of the sound of human voices but the Doctor didn't give up. He went on and on about everything he could think of as they flew south. The two men and the pilot showed no signs that they were going to give in and several hours later when they landed the Doctor had lost his voice for the first time in his life.

On a spacious landing pad, brightly lit by the setting sun, the Doctor was shuffled to a waiting van and roughly placed in the back seat. After a short, bumpy ride the doors were opened again and they were back at the low building that was the Delano Sleep Clinic.

"Home, sweet home." The Doctor said sarcastically aloud while inside he wondered just how he was going to pull off this plan. It was complicated, requiring all his concentration to maintain and relied very heavily on luck and chance. But if there was anything the Doctor was good at it was succeeding on nothing but a wing and a prayer.

Uncaring of possible witness to this kidnapping the men grabbed his arms again and dragged him to the open front door where the Professor stood waiting.

"How wonderful to see you again, Doctor. I trust my men treated you with the utmost of civility and respect." It was not a question but a statement designed to demonstrate his authority.

"Didn't say a word to me the whole time." The Doctor croaked. "I did my best to keep up the small talk but they just wouldn't go for it. It's been years since I visited the great white north and I wanted a few updates."

"You're throat is raw and yet you continue to yap. It must be a genetic defect." Professor Delano turned on his heel and marched into the dark building, leaving the Doctor looking and feeling offended. Genetic defect indeed!

Once inside the front atrium the Doctor shook off his captors and followed the Professor to his office. He plunked himself down on a couch with his feet up and pulled out his new device.

"This is what you want." Its cord was no longer attached to the sonic screwdriver but ended in a small glass marble with a drop of red liquid swirling about inside. The Doctor tossed it across the room, the Professor caught it clumsily. "It's a modified vortex manipulator. Can also be used as a teleport if you're handy, which I am."

In that explanation the Doctor had told the Professor that Jack and Honey would not be following him. Of course they still had their teleported but Delano didn't need to know that.

"You must think I'm quite foolish." Sneered the Professor, tossing the device back. "This contraption could do anything. You will be using it to take me where I wish to go. Through the portal."

"First I have a question. Why don't you want Honey anymore?"

"I've come up with a new plan. I will retrieve her when I have control of a working TARDIS and power over the portals. Now, no more nonsense. Take me through the portal and to your TARDIS."

Not wishing to seem overly willing the Doctor argued with Delano until the man pulled a gun from his desk draw and made his demands crystal clear.

"Now, now. There's no need for that. You know I'll just regenerate so put the gun down and play nice."

Delano lowered the gun and smiled at the Doctor. "You'll only be around to annoy me for a little while longer so, yes, I will play nice. Now take me through."

"Ok but let me explain something. When we go through it's going to look like we've just gone downstairs. My TARDIS is in the same room of the same building in my Universe where my link to Honey was strongest. When we arrive the door will unlock and the TARDIS is yours. Just please, let me go back to Honey and we'll leave you alone forever."

"I will decide your fate later." Delano snarled, clearly becoming impatient.

The Doctor raised the device and thumbed the blue and red buttons and then quickly did the same to the green and yellow. The room twisted and spun and then there was nothing but the two Time Lords floating in blackness. Light appeared around them and they stood in an underground concrete room with a TARDIS towering between them.

The Professor paced slowly around the police box, examining it from all sides. He did not seem to be bothered by the effects of the jump which had given the Doctor a sharp headache and a sick feeling in his gut.

"You say it will open for me? How do I know that you have not rigged it with some sort of trap?"

"You don't, but it's a risk you'll have to take if you want my TARDIS. If you make me go through first there's nothing stopping me from simply locking you out and flying away."

Delano nodded absently, accepting this as truth and stared at the door. At last he reached out and pushed gently on the blue paneling. It swung open silently and golden light spilled out. Peering around the Professor the Doctor looked inside to find the metallic, twisty pillars of his own TARDIS and breathed a sigh of relief.

Cautiously, Hayden stepped inside. No alarms went off and no traps were sprung. The metal grates echoed under his footsteps and the heart of the TARDIS pulsed with life. The Doctor stepped in quickly behind his and shut the door. Pulled out his sonic he held it against the lock.

The Professor swung around to face him as the illusion faded before his eyes and the interior of his own TARDIS appeared.

"What trickery is this?" He cried in dismay.

"Yeah, did you really think I was going to let you just stroll across the void and take of in my ship? Clearly you've never used a teleport before otherwise you'd know that we'd only gone down a floor. I am _so_ glad that you left this thing unlocked. I figured it would be so that you could maintain the stasis field but I was really just banking on luck." The Doctor grinned at Delano who scowled furiously.

"You think to trap me in my own ship? You think that I do not know this vessel inside and out?"

Peering around the stark, grey interior of the TARDIS the Doctor made a ho-hum sort of face and shrugged.

"Seeing as you've left the desktop on default instead and fiddling with all the settings and picking some ghastly, evil genius theme I'm going to guess that you don't know your ship as well as you'd like to think."

The Professor face went from pink to red to blazing hot as the Doctor listed all the reason why he knew the ship was so misused. "And now you're trapped in here with me, Gabby Gus, to chat away until the cows come home. We're going to work this out whether you like it or not."

No real words came from the Professor's mouth as he stormed about the TARDIS tossing aside chairs and kicking pillars and walls. The Doctor bore it all stoically and when the man had calmed down he moved towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"The Time Lords are not all as you believe. I can help you. You just have to let me."

"We shall see about that!" Cried the Professor. Shoving the Doctor aside he threw himself at the console and madly flipped switches and pulled levers. The engine groaned to life and the vessel shook violently. Warning lights flashed, bells gonged, klaxon screamed and sirens blared in a cacophony of light and sound enough to wake the dead.

There was a great crash, a final flicker of the light and a last bleep of an alarm as the ship stilled. Getting to his feet and rubbing his now very tender head the Doctor backed away from the Professor who stood still gripping the console, knuckles white with the strain.

"What did you do? Where are we?"

"We are home, Doctor. Home." The word slipped from Hayden's mouth in a whispered breath. "Now you will see what is left of the great empire of the Time Lords."


	41. Chapter 41

"So, we're going to follow him right?" Jack seemed to be looking to Honey for guidance. Honey supposed it was because so much now focused on her.

"Of course we are!" As far as she was concerned there was no other choice. The Doctor never hesitated to jump to someone's rescue so why should she. "You don't have to come along but I'm going back to the Falls."

"Not come along?" Jack snorted derisively. "You must not know me very well. I clung to the side of the TARDIS while it was in flight to follow that man."

"It's settled then." Honey held out her arm for Jack. "Shall we away?"

The jump was not as brutally turbulent this time, Jack guessed because they basically rewound their last leap, and their recovery time was short. They paused for only a moment to moan and groan and clutch their respective stomachs and heads. Honey stood up straight first and got a look at their new surroundings.

"Looks like we're right back where we started." The office looked exactly as they had left it but there was no sign of the Doctor, Professor Delano or any of his people. "The Doctor could have ended up anywhere, We'd only be lucky if he was brought back here. You know he may not even be back yet."

Jack eased himself into a soft, leather chair. "Unless Delano is actually using his TARDIS and he made the journey in an instant."

"No. No, I don't think that's an option for him. And I'm thinking now that I might have been right. Footsteps in the hall. Quick! In there!"

Jack flew off the chair and squeezed himself into a small coat closet with Honey. The door barely closed behind them. In the office outside they heard someone walk across the room, pick a phone and dial. Soon they heard the Professor's voice.

"Nathaniel. You are to forget the girl and the spare. We will collect them later. You're new priority is the Doctor only. What is your ETA?" There was a brief pause. "Good. I expect you inside the building in less than two hours."

The phone was returned to it's cradle and there was silence. Honey shifted uncomfortably. Something large was pressing into the small of her back. Jack's head was among the coat hangers and shirt sleeves and he didn't look any more ease than Honey felt.

It was at least twenty minutes before they heard a sound again but it was only to discover that Professor Delano was a Desperate Housewives fan. The television played the familiar theme song and Honey wished more than ever that she could just be lazing on her couch at home vegging out.

"This sucks." She whispered to Jack

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Relax. I just wanted to commiserate. But could we at least trade? Something has been digging into my back and I can't take it much longer." Jack nodded and they began the slow shifting around. Half way around, while they were both tangled amid scarves and such, Jack stopped. He was holding whatever it was that had been causing Honey such discomfort.

"What is it?" Honey queried.

"I'm not sure but I think it might be a door handle."

"Are you sure it's not just the closet door?"

"Common. How dumb do I look? No, it's smaller and lower on the wall."

"So, let's open it and find out."

"I was just going to suggest that."

Jack turn the knob slowly and there was a loud click as the lock disengaged and the door swung open noiselessly. On the other side was yet another staircase.

"More dark, concrete tunnels. Have I mentioned how much I love these?" Jack slipped through the small door first taking a few steps down before reaching back to give Honey his hand. Closing the door behind her they watched its seems vanishrf into the wall and became completely invisible.

"Anyone that came this way would find nothing but a blank wall." Honey felt sick. How many people had been trapped down here before her?

"Let's keep moving, Honey."

She nodded and they headed down the winding stairs. At the bottom they found a dead end. No door, no panels, nothing to reveal that there was an exit near at hand. Jack cursed and pounded a fist against the wall.

"Look!" Honey cried and pointed at the area Jack had just hit. A small line had appeared and pale, yellow light shone through. Jack punched the wall again but nothing changed.

"I don't think force is the key. Who would make a door that they had to batter just to find?"

Honey reached out and ran her finger down the crack and continued below it. In the wake of her touch the line continued to materialize all the way to the floor.

"It's by touch. You just have to know where to start." She continued to trace the line all the around the wall and soon a door appeared before them. As they watched a doorknob grew out of the hard stone.

"That's incredible. I feel like I'm in Harry Potter."

"Let's have a look and she where we are." Jack stepped boldly through the door. As he'd assumed the other side lay empty. They were back in the flood chamber where the Doctor had been imprisoned. That explained why Honey never heard them go by her cell. And the room with the Professor's TARDIS was just around the corner.

"I seem to be hatching a plan, Jack. We can use that TARDIS!" Honey ran from the room. Jack wondered if she'd always been like that or if it was something she'd picked up from the Doctor.

"Always with the running." Jack shook his head and took off after her.

He found her several rooms away standing in the doorway looking at the TARDIS that was still disguised as the Doctor's police box.

"So, what the plan here?"

"I need you to go back through the portal and get something for me. I don't think the Doctor's knows that I know about this and if he did I don't think he'd let me do it."

"You know me. I'm all about disobeying the Doctor and saving his backside whether he likes it or not."

"Ok. Go back to the Gardener's TARDIS and look for an old fashioned fob watch. Best pretend to be looking for something else because it'll likely have a perception filter and wont be easy to spot. Ask Serinae to help you if you have to."

"Watch. Filter. Swan. Got it. Why?"

"I'll explain when you get back. Just hurry."

Jack nodded and took at step back getting ready to call on Serinae. As he turned he disappeared and reappeared a second later two steps away.

"Apparently someone has been keeping tabs on us. She had everything ready to go and I just had to grab it and step back through. Portals are so much nicer than teleports."

Honey ignored him and took the watch from him almost reverently. She ran her fingers over its small, cool surface. It looked so familiar, like something packed away in the attic and unseen since childhood.

"Oh my god, I am so stupid! How could I not have guessed?" Honey whacked herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. "The pattern on the watch, I've seen it before, so many times. It's the same pattern of circles as on Professor Delano's card. I should have known something was off with him right from the start."

"What is this watch anyway?" Jack asked.

"You know about the Chameleon Arc, right? When a Time Lord uses the Arc their essence is hidden inside a watch. Inside this watch is the Gardener's self. If I open the watch I may be able to become a Time Lord. I wont be the Gardener, her memories have been dead for decades, but biological make up of a Time Lord is still here."

Jack couldn't help but think that Honey seemed an awful lot like the Doctor as she paced on the spot and talked at the speed of light.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Don't you think the Doctor would have suggested that if it was a good…" Jack didn't have time to finished his sentence before Honey turned to him with a dreamy look and flipped open the cover of the watch.

A wisp of reddish smoke drifted out and Honey breathed it in deep but nothing extraordinary happened.

"It's just sand. It should be filled with light and life."

"Maybe it's for the best, Hon. We'll find another way. We could ambush them at the…" Honey left him hanging again as she ran across the room to the TARDIS. It's door swung open at her touch and Jack raced to get inside before it shut behind her. Inside Honey was running about a console that was so unbelievably different than the Doctor's. Everything was plain white. So white in fact that it almost hurt the eyes to look at.. The walls seemed to disappear into the starkness and sound echoed about the space.

"Every TARDIS has one." Honey told him and she search frantically. "If I can find the Arch in here maybe I can rework it to do the opposite and turn a human back into a Time Lord."

All of Jack's experience told him that this would not be possible. The watch contained too little of what really mattered and Honey could easily put herself into a comatose state drifting between Time Lord and human.

"Honey, I know you want to help but one thing the Doctor would never do is ask you to risk your life for him."

"I know that, Jack but the Doctor would risk his life in a double heart beat to save you or me so, for the thousandth time, why shouldn't I?"

There was that Doctor look again Jack had seen so many times before. The determination, the fire, the passion. How could he argue with that?

"What are you looking for?" Honey closed her eyes in relief and gave Jack a quick hug.

"It will look like the inside of a construction helmet. Two straps and a band and a spot for the watch on the front. They usually hang from the ceiling but I don't see anything here."

"Could this be it?" Jack was standing beside a modified barbers chair, complete with the dome shaped hair dryer on top. Except that this was no hair dryer but the exact piece of equipment that Honey was looking for.

"Jack, you're brilliant! Domestic blindness. So familiar I overlooked it."

She rushed across the control room and crouched down beside the chair. "This will make things easier. I wont have to look for the controls. It should be just a simple matter of reversing the polarity and giving it a Time Lord genetic structure to work with."

"And you know how to do that?" Jack had crouch down beside her watching her fiddle with the wires inside the arm of the chair.

"Oh, I've got all kinds of skills coming back to me. That little bit I breathed in was enough to get me through this."

"How sure are you?"

"89.467." Honey declared sarcastically. " I don't know, Jack. Sure enough that I'm not going to let you stop me."

Honey closed the panel and clipped the watch into place. She stood on her tip toes and gave Jack a kiss.

"Just so I can say I did." With a wink she threw herself into the chair and pulled the Arc down over her head and activated it.


	42. Chapter 42

At first nothing happened. Honey lay on the chair with her eyes closed while Jack stood nearby with a raised eyebrow. After a moment Honey opened one eye and looked around.

"Anything happening?"

"Nothing, Hon. I'm sorry."

Honey drew in a sharp breath and reach up to her chest. Something was glowing underneath her shift. Before she could open the buttons a bright red light arched from the watch to her chest and she gripped the arms of the chair, digging her nails in and tearing through the plastic padding.

"Honey!" Jack cried and leaped towards her.

"Don't touch me, Jack," she whispered through tight lips. "Don't break the link. It's working."

Then she lost consciousness as whatever was below her shirt heated up. Before Jack's eyes it started to glow bright orange and the fabric of Honey's shirt smouldered away revealing a small pendant on a silver chain. All Jack could make out was the outline of three oval, amber gemstones.

As the flames grew brighter the jewels began to break down and rise into the air above Honey. Tiny grains of amber light drifted and spiralled and flowed towards the time piece. Without warning the lights and flames peaked and exploded in a nova so bright it blinded Jack and threw him across the floor of the strange TARDIS.

When he found his feet and his eyesight returned he stumbled back to the chair to find Honey slumped on the floor. Voices sounded outside the ship doors. There was no time to check her for injuries. Seeing her chest rise and fall faintly was enough for Jack.

He lifted her carefully and proceeded to the far side of the TARDIS where a tall thin door stood partially open. Jack had no idea where it led but there were not a whole lot of options available to him. Jack slipped through, closed the door with his foot and look around.

"Another damn hallway. If I never see another hallway it will be too soon."

Honey began to wake up as Jack tried the first door on his left. Behind he found an empty room. It was as white and empty as the main control room of the ship. Before Jack could turn around and look for another room to hide in he heard the main doors swing open and someone enter.

The voices were muted and muffled but Jack thought that he could hear the Doctor. He lay Honey on the floor and listened at the hall door. Suddenly voices were raised and the whole ship began to vibrate. Jack was thrown once again across the floor as the ship took flight. He saw Honey's eyes open beside him and he reached out to take her hand.

The turbulent ride ended and they sat up and listened to the voices outside. The doors opened and the noises stopped.

"Did we just travel somewhere?" Honey asked in a raspy voice.

"Yes," replied Jack. "And in a very rusty TARDIS. We're probably best here for the time being. I'm not too keen on being stranded wherever we've landed. Let's have a look at you. Are you alright?"

"I think so." Honey reached down and lifted the remains of the pendant still hanging from its blackened chain. The silver leaf shaped frame dangled from her finger minus the three pieces of amber.

"Where did you get that necklace?"

"It was my grandma's. She told me it's been in the family for years…" Honey trailed off as it dawned on her where it must have come from. "No wonder there was nothing in the watch but some sand. The Gardener must have taken the contents of the watch and made this pendant. Amber comes from trees and the silver is in the shape of a leaf. How perfect!"

Jack eyed her curiously. "So, does this mean that you're a Time Lord now?"

"I really don't know. Have a listen." She gestured to her chest and Jack leaned in, putting his ear against her breast bone. He sat up shaking his head.

"Just one beat. Sorry."

Honey looked disappointed but it passed quickly. "Ah, well. It was worth a try. It's just too bad I had to lose my necklace."

As she got to her feet Jack didn't fail to notice the smile she wore as she turned away from him. Something had happened under the Chameleon Arc whether Honey admitted it or not.

Jack followed as she went back into the control room. He watched in amazement as she circled the console and before his eyes changed the entire theme of the TARDIS. The walls moved in closer and turned a pale blue. Soft couches and lounges grew out of the floor while two large oval windows spread themselves across the walls.

This is when Jack stopped watching Honey. He found his way across to the nearest window and stared outside, wide eyed.

"Is this view of the actual outside of the ship?"

"Yup. Probably not the safest feature but I wanted to see if I could do it."

"You should come take a look at this, Honey."

She left the console and walked to Jack's side at the window. She froze when she saw what was on the other side.

"I don't believe it."

While Jack and Honey stood staring out the window the Doctor and Professor stood just outside the door of the TARDIS which had reverted back to its original form, a white square with fuzzy edges. Hard to look at, just like the inside.

But the shape and colour of the ship is not what held their attention. It was the vista before them. It was one familiar to both of them and one they had not seen in several lifetimes.

Across a snow-drifted field, littered with grey rocks and boulders, there stood a city. Narrow spires and citadels stretched towards the heavens and a sparkling dusting of stars. Surrounding the city was a wall of splintered glass.

The pair stood in stunned silence as the sun began to rise. It crested the horizon directly behind the city and its orange light flooded the sky like oily flames. Hundreds upon thousands of shards of broken glass reflected the fiery light across the rock strewn plain where it bathed the glistening snow in a bloody hue that mirrored the violence committed there.

"All that remains of the great Time Lord civilization. Broken glass and a burnt orange sky."

The Doctor almost didn't hear Hayden's words, they were spoken so quietly, but for the first time the man sounded almost sane, if horribly heart broken. "Do you still think that you can help me? That you can fix what's wrong with me?"

"I saw devastation like this and worse and you don't see me plotting to do away with anyone."

"How dare you belittle my life, my past, my family." Delano tore his eyes from the ruins and glared at the Doctor.

"I'm not belittling anything. I'm trying to make you see reason. This has to end. You hate them for what they did, so end it. Stop it all here and now." The Doctor spoke through a stiff jaw as he so often did when trying to contain his anger. "We're the last, don't you see that? I'd bet my bottom dollar that they're gone in every universe from here to eternity except for that last one. The last Time Lord alive."

"If you're so sure that they're dead then what difference does it make if I go hunting for whatever's left?"

"It doesn't matter anymore." The Doctor told the crazed Time Lord. "You can't fly your TARDIS, it only makes one trip between Gallifrey and Earth, and you know now that I'm not going to open any portals for you."

Before Delano could answer, the door of his TARDIS opened wide and out stepped Honey. Her hair was a mess and her blouse burnt but there was a glow about her that had not been there before.

"But I don't need you, Doctor." Professor Delano's sinister tones had returned. "I have her."

Before anyone could react the Professor tackled Honey and they fell together through the doors of the TARDIS. The Doctor pounded on the white blur and screamed at the deranged Time Lord to let her go. A strong wind picked up and blasted the Doctor away from the ship.

The TARDIS dematerialized, on its way back to Earth, leaving the Doctor stranded on the home planet that wasn't his.


	43. Chapter 43

The Doctor stared at the depression in the snow where Delano's TARDIS had been. He grabbed his hair with both hands and pulled as he muttered.

"No. No. NO. This cannot be happening. What have I done? What have I done?"

He turned in several circles and took off towards the desolate city. When he reached it he took several minutes to find what was left of the original gateway through the glass dome. It was hidden by piece of a building that had fallen away from the main structure.

The Doctor picked his way carefully around it and into the ruined metropolis. Wind whistled across the edges of the shattered glass dome and through the empty, dark holes of the windows in the abandoned buildings. Shadows shifted inside the doors and archways that stood hollow along the edge of the street. Voices of the past seemed to echo around the vacant courtyards and when the Doctor closed his eyes he could almost imagine the streets filled with the elegant Time Lords. Bright clothes and regal uniforms, ceremonies and celebrations. All the memories he'd hidden away so deep came flooding back.

He blocked them out and forced himself to keep going. In the centre of the city stood the Great Citadel, tallest building and home to the Time Lord high council. Far below the tower was a factory, a sort of nursery, for it was there that TARDISes were grown. Deep underground where they could be nurtured safely until they were delivered to their owners. The Doctor's hope was that down there he might find an unused ship, something that he would be able to fly back to earth to avert the terrible crisis that could erupt at Delano's hands.

Jack was still standing at the window when Honey left the TARDIS. He heard the door open, voices outside and a violent crash as Honey came flying through the door with the Professor on top of her.

The Time Lord kicked the door shut with his foot and ran for the controls. He reached them before Jack and fired the engines. From his coat pocket he pulled the strange weapon he had used on the Doctor and aimed it at Honey.

"One more step and the pretty little girl gets her one beating heart stopped."

Neither Honey nor Jack made a move. Professor Delano looked around the inside of the ship with a disgusted look on his face.

"What have you done to my ship?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's no longer your ship." Honey gave the man a brave smile and now Jack was sure that she was more Time Lord than she'd let on. "You never actually coded it to yourself so I was free to give it my DNA and that makes me the new owner. Sorry."

"You lie, you little wretch." He spat at her. "Only a Time Lord can encode a TARDIS and that you are not."

"But that I am. You're not the only one who can hide your identity. And you may have just set this ship a sail but it's not going where you think it is. So go ahead, shoot me with your silly little gun. I'll regenerate and while I'm doing that my dear Jack will take you down."

Honey's face had a look that said 'I am dead serious, just try me' and Jack knew the Professor was going to take the bait.

Jack was only inches from the control panel. Above the Professor's head dangled the Chameleon Arc where Honey had repositioned it during her retrofitting of the interior. If he could get the device onto Delano's head he could activate it and stop him without killing him. The Doctor would like that and Jack guessed, so would Honey. He wondered if she saw the same plan he did.

But there was no way to communicate the idea. Delano could see both of them and would surely shoot Honey at the slight movement on Jack's part. Honey was bluffing and although she was good at it, it was likely not enough to stop the Time Lord from firing if he felt threatened.

"Got any bright ideas, Jack? Not easy to take out a Time Lord?" Delano's eyes were on him.

"Not easy to bring one out either." She caught on quickly and glanced up and returned Jack's code with a wink before Delano's eyes turned back to her.

"We'll come up with something. They say two heads are better than one."

Professor Delano stomped a foot like a petulant child. "That's enough! Enough plotting! I have you both. There is no way out!"

But Honey continued, "If two heads are better then I reckon that means two hearts are better as well, don't you, Jack?"

Jack had no idea what she meant until she started tapping her hand on her leg. _Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. _A heartbeat. Then she started the same pattern on the other leg, slightly off beat from the first. Two heartbeats! Honey had two working hearts.

Honey saw the realization on his face and stopped the tapping. "I'm kinda like you right now, Jack."

"I said enough plotting!" Delano screamed at them. "I will prevail! I will…"

While Delano was distracted Jack reached for a little button on the console and the Chameleon Arc dropped from the ceiling.

"I said DON'T MOVE!" Delano fired the gun at Honey and the spring loaded end launched across the space between them, impacting on her chest with a sickening thud. Honey collapsed to the floor with a small cry and Jack grabbed the Arc. He thrust it down on Delano's head and smacked the button on the back.

Delano had no clue what was happening and didn't bother to remove the device from his head. He laughed at Jack who was backing away slowly, towards Honey's prone form.

"All that effort just to attach this silly thing to my head? And now you've lost your friend. What exactly were you hoping to achieve?"

Delano stopped mid sentence and stood still. Squinting and grimacing he reach for the Arc but it was too late. The process had already begun and the change had started in Delano's body. The pain was evident on his face and Jack thought maybe this might kill him after all.

Delano's body seized and convulsed but remained standing while the Arc rewrote every cell in him. The light that glowed around the watch was not the warm light that had surrounded Honey but a deep, red almost blackish mist that engulfed his head.

The whole time Professor Delano didn't make a sound louder than a whimper. He gave one last whispered cry and collapsed to the floor next to Honey. The watch detached from the Arc and fell to the floor with a clatter. Bending down, Jack picked it up and studied it. There was nothing special about it, in fact it seemed to drift in and out of his vision though his hand remained still.

"A perception filter. Of course." Jack touched the Professor's neck and felt for a pulse. It was there but weak and thready. He moved over to Honey and put an unsteady hand on her neck. She was warm. There was no pulse.

A thought crossed his mind and he moved his hand to the other side of her neck. The pulse jumped out at his fingers so suddenly that he jumped and pulled his hand away. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to Delano who was waking up.

"Where am I?" His voice was softer. "Please, tell me where I am."

"Easy there. I'll help you up." Jack lifted the now elderly man to his feet and settled him down on a couch. "You just sit there and rest up while I turn this boat around."

Honey was safe on the floor where she was and all that remained for Jack was to start the ship again and go back for the Doctor. He started working on the controls but nothing happened. The TARDIS would not respond to him. An alarm sounded, piercing and shrill, and the lights went out. Then there was silence. Heavy oppressive silence.

Jack switched on a flashlight from his pocket and looked around the room. The console was dark, the windows faded, letting in no light.

"This is not good."

Either Honey had added a security feature or the TARDIS was dead.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

The Doctor reached the bottom of the long spiralling staircase and found himself in an immense warehouse carved from the living rock of Gallifrey. Giant pillars supporting the vast ceiling ran for as far as the eye could see. Each pillar was wrapped in rings of glass tubes, power couplings for the fledging TARDISes.

He searched the entire space, one far side to the other, but found nothing. Not even the remains of a TARDIS that he could work with to create a vortex manipulator. He didn't waste a moment. Turning around he raced back towards the stairs and headed back up full tilt. He wasn't ready to give up yet and there was a chance that there might be something in the tower.

Nearing the surface and beginning to feel the panic catching up with him he ran smack into someone else. Or at least he thought it was someone. Whoever it was they smelled terrible. The figure backed up into the light and its silhouette grew fuzzy. The Doctor rubbed his eyes and looked again.

The figure was standing half in the sunlight revealing an incredibly hairy man. The Doctor took a step toward him but before he could get any closer the man turned and ran. The Doctor took off after him, somehow not yet out of breath.

He chased the man around the outside of the building. As he rounded the last corner he slowed and listened. All around him there was song, echoing and re-echoing off the high walls. At the front of the building the Doctor found himself in the main courtyard, the Timeless Gathering they had called it on his Gallifrey.

Here was no different. The words were etched in the stone archway in true Gallifreyan, a language the Doctor had not seen, heard or spoken since the end of the Time War. But it was not this discovery that stopped the Doctor in his tracks. The Gathering was filled with birds all singing their hearts out. Every one a different tune, but all blending together to create the most perfect and harmonious song.

It was a song that touched deep into the Doctor's soul and made him want to scream and cry and laugh all at once. As he walked deeper into the midst, the Scarlet Swans all turned to look at him and their singing grew louder. Their voices began to sound in his head.

"Well, blow me down," he muttered.

One bird, the largest, flew down from his perch to alight on a crumbling wall beside the Doctor.

_You are one of us but you do not belong here. Why and how have you come?_ The creature's voice was deep, melodious and it reverberated inside the Doctor's head, soothing his panic. _Ah, the answer arrives as we speak._

A breeze picked up and grew into a gale that sucked and pulled at the Doctor's clothing and hair. The familiar sound of TARDIS engines blended in with the swan song and there materialized a new structure in the courtyard, a small stone building with a wooden door. The outline solidified, the door opened and out came Honey.

"Doctor!" Joy was plastered all over her face with the enormous grin that greeted him.

"Honey, you brilliant girl, you! I knew you wouldn't leave me here!" They met in a great big hug, the Doctor lifting her right off her feet.

"There is so much to tell you but first there is something you should see."

The Doctor began to follow her then remembered something and turned back to the Swan.

"What was that creature I was chasing?"

_A figment of my child's imagination to draw you out of the tower. There is nothing to be found at its peak but death and sorrow._

"Ah, that would explain why he had no face."

He turned and continued to follow Honey. At the door of the TARDIS they were met by Jack and a very old man. The man looked up as Jack lead him out of the ship.

"What a wondrous place you have brought me to. I've always wanted to see the castle ruins of England. I never dreamed they'd be this big. And all the birds! So tropical."

Jack led him away from the Doctor and Honey and began point out structural features and making up histories to amuse the elderly man.

"Maybe Jack's not the best person to be teaching history," said the Doctor with a hint of a smile.

"Not to worry. Alzheimer's. Won't remember a thing and if he does, no one will believe him." Honey leaned on the wall beside the Swan and gently stroked his feathers.

"Alzheimer's? How did he get like this?"

"He picked it." Honey's voice was filled with pity and regret to see a once great Time Lord brought so low. "We used the Chameleon Arc. He shot me thinking that I only had one heart to stop and Jack activated the machine. It's over, Doctor. Our foe has been vanquished and now is nothing more than a tottering old man."

"He wanted to forget," said the Doctor as they watched the Professor gaze up at the awesome heights of the Citadel in wonder. "Hold on a tick. You said hearts."

Honey laughed, linked arms with him and started walking about the Gathering. She told him the whole story of the teleport and finding the Arc, the necklace and the metamorphosis from human to Time Lord.

"This means that there is now no anchor for the portal on this side because human Honey no longer exists. It is controlled from the Gardener's TARDIS alone. And I think there is someone that would very much like to come through."

"Serinae. I'd almost forgotten about her. This is definitely somewhere she'd like to be. But what are we going to do with the old Professor there?"

"Oh, I've got a pretty good idea. Whenever you're ready we'll head back to Earth in my shiny new TARDIS."

"Oh ho ho." The Doctor laughed. "So it's your TARDIS now is it? Bah, I guess that's alright."

They walked in silence through the ruinous streets of Gallifrey. It didn't take long for the Doctor to adjust their course and bring them back to the Timeless Gathering though.

"Back so soon?" Jack greeted them at an archway twined with blue flowering ivy and soft purple lichens. "I would have thought you'd want to spend a little more time reminiscing."

"Naw, this isn't really home and besides, I rather like the memories I have of this place as it should be. Seeing this is really just sort of sad. I'm glad it's still here though." The Doctor looked around dreamily at the fallen columns and dry fountains. "Time to go. Back to the TARDIS. Keep moving."

They collected Professor Delano, who was sad to leave the medieval times he thought he was visiting, and filed back into Honey's TARDIS.

"I like your new theme. Very modern and… blue." The Doctor explored the new control room while Honey prepared for their jump.

"It just sort of came to me. I think I'll add some plants, maybe a pool."

"A pool!" exclaimed the Doctor looking flabbergasted. "I've never thought of that. Good idea."

The engines whirred to life and the glowing pistons rose and fell. The ride was smooth and Honey flew the ship flawlessly. The Doctor was impressed and he said so.

Back at Delano's clinic Jack fired Darius and Nathaniel on the Professor's behalf and Honey and the Doctor went looking for Verity. They found her still locked away in one of the bedrooms in the main hallway.

"I'm so glad to see you both alive and well. I can't believe I helped that man for as long as I did. Can you ever forgive me, Honey?"

"I will on two conditions." The Doctor stood back and let Honey take the lead. He had an idea of where she was going and approved. "Firstly, tell me your story."

Verity told the Doctor and Honey of her first years of university, where she met Hayden as one of her lecturers. She had been drawn to him in a way that baffled her, considering the significant age difference between them. Over the years they became close and he began to open up to her. He told her secrets about his past and heritage and wove a tale so captivating and heartbreaking that she couldn't help but pity him. In his unfinished TARDIS he had taken her to the deserted Gallifrey and told her how the Untempered Schism had fractured and threatened to destroy the planet. Not knowing how to save them, his father put Hayden inside a TARDIS and sent him away.

The rest of the story Verity, the Doctor and Honey now knew to be untrue. Hayden's father had not opened a portal and sent his people to safety but had altered the energy flowing from the Schism to send it out across the planet in a deadly wave, killing all Time Lords on the planet. The sky had burned as the wave was absorbed by the atmosphere, a wash of bloody, crimson flame. From the devastated planet he tracked the few remaining Time Lords through time and space and killed them off one by one. As he did this, he sent violent footage to his son on Earth, each time telling him to never trust another Time Lord, they would only do him harm.

Verity sat with her head in her hands. "How can I pity him now? Knowing what he wanted, and was willing to do?"

The Doctor crouched down in front on her. "Knowing his true story how can you do anything but pity him? Can you image what that must have been like for him? How could he have turned out any other way?"

"Which brings us to number two," Honey said as she stepped forward and offered Verity her hand.

They went down the hall to Hayden's office where Honey's TARDIS had landed disguised as a large wardrobe in the center of the room.

"That's a very odd place to put a wardrobe." Verity circled the piece of furniture wondering what had possessed the Professor to place it there.

"Open the doors. Your new charge is inside. This is the second condition."

Skeptically, Verity opened the doors stepped inside. "What magic is this? How is the inside bigger than the outside?"

"Oh, don't bother with questions like that." Honey followed her in and ushered her ahead. Sitting on a couch, polishing his glasses, was the Professor. "He's not the same person anymore, he doesn't remember a thing and in fact, he's not even a Time Lord anymore. He will never change back. He's just an old man now who needs taking care of."

"How?" asked Verity.

"Too complicated. Just trust me. Will you take him in?"

"Of course I will. It's about time he had a normal life. And it's more than a fair trade for your forgiveness and better than I deserve."

"The sooner you stop believing that, the better." The Doctor put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "You did what any good hearted person would if told that story. And in the end you helped save us all."

The Doctor and Honey left Verity and Hayden to get reacquainted. They went outside and sat down on a bench in the warm spring sun. Honey was seeing her world through brand new eyes and things were appearing that she had never before witnessed. The air seemed fresher, the sun warmer and everything came into focus with a sharp clarity that almost didn't seem real.

"Come with me," the Doctor blurted out. "Come back to my universe and travel with me."

Smiling, Honey took the Doctor's hand in her own. "No. I can't. This is my home and how could I leave this universe now that I am the only Time Lord left? Who's going to save it when the Cybermen pop up here?"

"I knew you were going to say that," the Doctor sulked. Honey knew what he was thinking. For the first time in ages the he could have a companion that wouldn't age, that couldn't be killed and that could match him in cleverness, wit and brilliance.

"Hey! You never know, I could be one of those cunning Time Lords who learns how to move between universes. We'll see each other again, I'm sure of it."

"So, I guess this is goodbye then." A sad smile appeared on the Doctor's face. They both knew that Honey's words were of false hope. The odds of either of them ever jumping to another universe again were infinitesimal. But anyway they looked at it the hope felt good.

"Let's just say until next time. But not yet because Jack's waiting at the door to say goodbye as well."

Honey turned and waved at Jack who was leaning on the doorway of the building. He walked over to them and picked Honey up in an enormous hug. She didn't object when he planted a kiss on her lips and held on for several seconds.

"You cheeky man." She slapped him playfully on the arm. "As saucy as you are I adore you and am glad I met you."

"Same to you, Honey B." He winked at her as she rolled her eyes.

"I knew I wasn't going to get out of this without being called that. Now buzz off so I can give the Doctor a proper goodbye."

They hugged again and Jack retreated to a bench to wait.

"This is goodbye, Doctor. And now I am sad." Honey bit her lip as she tried to hold back the tears. "Thank you for coming to my rescue. Thank you for everything."

"And thank you Mistress Beatrix, may I call you that? I can't hold it in any longer. I just hate the name Honey."

They both laughed through the sadness and Honey wiped away the tears in her eyes.

"Oh, I hate it too. Mistress Beatrix does just fine. She stood on her tips toes and kissed him on his stubbly cheek. "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, Beatrix."

He turned and walked towards Jack. The two men stood together on the lawn and looked back at Honey briefly, then turned and disappeared through the portal.


	45. Chapter 45

**Epilogue**

Jack re-entered Torchwood's base two days after he had left his team. Tosh and Ianto were waiting for him.

"What happened, Jack? All activity dropped off the monitors about an hour ago."

Jack sat down at his desk and poured himself a glass of bourbon on the rocks.

"The portal is closed. Crisis averted. Universe times two saved."

"Good to know, I guess," Ianto said, sensing that there was more to the story than Jack was letting on. "And you're alright, Jack?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Might have a craving for Honey every now and then but yes, I'm alright."

Jack ignored the looks following his cryptic remark and reached for the phone.

"Hello, Natalie? It's Jack. Yup, everything dealt with. How about you come on back to the base. I'll meet you up top."

Tosh and Ianto could hear Natalie's enthusiastic response as Jack held the phone away from his ear. He laughed, said he'd meet her in an hour and hung up.

Ianto shrugged. "Honestly, I think she'll hate it here."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jack sighed.

"I'll get the Retcon then, shall I?"

Jack nodded. Ianto started to leave the room and then turned to face Jack. "I'm glad you're back. It's not the same without you."

"I'm glad to be back, Ianto."

The Doctor stepped back into his police box TARDIS where it was parked beside the Millennium Arts Centre. The end of the another adventure and he once again came out of it with a little less and a little more than he went in with. He'd gained and lost an amazing friend in the space of only a few days.

He walked slowly around his console, changing settings and coordinates, and set the ship aflight. Floating high above earth again he leaned against his bench and aimed his sonic screwdriver at the monitor screen. His intergalactic email popped up and he scrolled quickly through the various alerts and news broadcasts from around the Universe. He stopped on one from 21st century Earth and read it carefully.

"Adipose Industries, eh? Now that sounds like trouble. Back to Earth I go!"

He pulled out his rubber mallet, hit the control board several times in quick succession and pressed the fuchsia button. The TARDIS spun away in space and plummeted back down to the planet where another adventure waited.

Honey stepped out of her TARDIS on Gallifrey once again, this time with a Scarlet Swan perched on her outstretched arm.

"Here we are, Serinae. Your new old home."

Serinae ruffled her feathers and spread her wings wide. Lifting her head high she let out a musical cry that carried across the snowy plains and up into the mountains. Several cries were returned and Serinae took flight and landed on a bent and twisted tree near by.

_You have brought me home, Mistress. How can I repay you?_

"Repay me? You owe me nothing. If there was more that I could do for you I would. Go back to your mountain aerie and spend the rest of your days basking in the light of the twin suns.

_Thank you, Honey. I shall never forget you. You will be welcome on Gallifrey whenever you should wish to return._

And with that Serinae took flight and sailed away into the east where her kind waited to greet her. Honey watched until she was no more than a speck on the horizon. Taking a last look at the shattered city Honey returned to her TARDIS.

"Where to go, where to go? So many places to see, so many times to visit."

On a whim she pressed a large round, orange button in the centre of her console.

"Let's see where random gets us."

Stepping back she watched the engines come to life and the view outside her window change from snow capped mountains to the whirling, dancing light of the time vortex and she smiled.

"Universe, here I come."


End file.
